Walker: Student news is here to stay
Every time I tell people what my major is, I am told not to go into journalism. They say it would be great in college, but I’ll come out with a degree and no prospects of a job.
"The field is dying, and who really tunes into the news anyway?"
Here I am, news editor at Central Michigan Life and reporter at WCMU, and maybe I am truly stuck in my bubble, but I find it all far from the truth. Journalists are not going anywhere and are here to stay.
But a year and a half ago, I wasn’t so confident.
As a transfer from the University of Michigan - Flint, I carry the heavy title of the last reporter for the decades-old student newspaper, the Michigan Times.
The paper was founded in 1956. As a freshman, I was given the job by former Michigan Times Editor-in-Chief Eric Hinds and the Dean of Students Julie Snyder. Before me, the paper took a massive hit after student journalists graduated or moved online, and interest dwindled.
Hinds said he was meeting with university officials and creating systems to try to keep the paper going.
“There were a lot of discussions had about how best to save the paper and how best to get the paper to move forward and get people interested in being a part of it,” Hinds said. “After I was leaving, it didn’t seem like there was going to be somebody that came in that actually was going to be able to implement any sort of changes.”
After months of being unable to publish my work, I was told that the university was planning on shutting down the program altogether, leaving the Michigan Times newspaper stands forever empty.
“I wanted the paper to keep going,” Hinds said. “There's only so much I could do. I mean, at the end of the day, I'm just a student employee."
Though the student-run newspaper has ceased publication, a new website run by former University of Michigan - Flint graduates titled the Michigan Times is now running. According to the website, the publication covers Flint and Detroit local news.
"As former University of Michigan-Flint students, we are committed to helping current students and being the place where their problems will be heard," the website said.
Despite this, it is not connected to the university, the University of Michigan - Flint officials told East Village Magazine.
And what did I learn from it all? I found out how much journalism is still needed.
Without the news, we would not have an entity in place that holds the government accountable. That also goes for student news and the university.
Journalists do more than just report information; we are there to ask the hard questions. To investigate the issues we see in our community, in the hopes of figuring out what is truly going on.
Without the news, we wouldn’t know what was going on in our own government at the federal, state and even local level. In my hometown of Flint, the water crisis affected the lives of thousands of its citizens. But it wouldn’t have had the nationwide attention it did without the hard work of local journalists.
However, local news is disappearing. Earlier this year, President Donald Trump signed a bill to shut down government funding for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, endangering local radio stations across the nation. For the past decade, local newspapers have been going extinct nationwide, creating news deserts across the United States.
Even if you don’t pay attention to the news as much as us, news buffs, we are here for you. We’re here to keep you updated and provide answers on things that are happening on campus. Not every student can attend, or let's face it, would want to attend the Board of Trustees meetings, investigate our administration or follow where our tuition is being spent.
“It’s incredibly important that there are people, especially young people, that have the gusto to actually like, hold (the university) to account,” Hinds said. “If somebody has something that they’ve gone to the administration, but nothing gets done, they have somebody they can go and tell and can bring it to light. That’s really important."
A year and a half ago, I was walking through the halls of a university with no understanding of what was happening on campus and little understanding of the importance of news.
Today, I'm surrounded by colleagues at CM Life who share the passion and dedication that make journalism a necessity.
Grace Walker is Central Michigan Life's news editor. She is a junior majoring in Journalism.
To support CM Life students and your local journalism, donate to CM Life: https://giving.apps.cmich.edu/fund/9500015
