Friday, April 16, 2010
The Press's Civic Duty
Much is different between the University of Nevada and the school in the southern desert wasteland of Nevada, but one difference recently struck me as surprising, and disappointing.
The UNLV Rebel Yell, in Thursday's edition, had three news stories that directly mentioned the happenings in CSUN, the undergraduate companion to ASUN, two of which were on the front page. Hardly an issue of the Rebel Yell goes by without a story about what CSUN, and particularly its Senate, is doing.
It struck me because when I look to the Nevada Sagebrush, ASUN is lucky to get any mention at all, much less front page coverage, particularly on important stories, like how the Judicial Council has been picking away at the Senate's actions because they didn't follow important procedural rules (the ASUN Constitution).
The Sagebrush has a civic duty to keep the undergraduates at Nevada informed about the happenings of their student goverment, to which each student is compelled to pay $5 per credit. Instead, the venerable Sagebrush seems more like the Ostrich Times for all things ASUN.
I find this entirely relevant because Sagebrush Editor-in-Chief Jessica Fryman, who this past weekend was renewed for a second year as editor, seems awfully timid when it comes to covering ASUN, especially compared with some of her predecessors.
Maybe she's just doing what other Sagebrush editors were afraid of doing: cutting ASUN coverage because hey, nobody gives a shit about ASUN. Maybe the Sagebrush's declining coverage is partly to blame for that attitude among the student body. But maybe she doesn't cover ASUN because there's no point in giving valuable column inches to a bunch of rank amaterus who are consumed with self-aggrandizement and patting themselves on the back for working hard but never delivering results. Maybe it's because the Senate in particular is largely irrelevant, even though it is supposed to take front and center in ASUN.
I have always been a fan of the Sagebrush, even after they took their various shots at me. Although I was never a staffer, I was proud when they earned a Pacemaker Award under the leadership of Brian Duggan. But something's amiss lately, and I hope they find their cojones once again. Keep a fire to the asses of everyone in ASUN. It keeps them honest.
Is the Sagebrush shirking its civic duty? I welcome comments.
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