By Emily Wunderlich
It was the summer of ‘69.
Humankind took its first steps on the moon. The Stonewall Riots kicked off the modern day LGBT rights movement. Woodstock brought together more than half a million people for a weekend of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.
And a little closer to home, the Bay Campus Bulletin published its first issue.
A lot has changed since our humble days as a mimeographed newsletter. Gone are the gossip columns, racially inflammatory advertisements (looking at you guys, Omnicultural Society of 1997) and crossword puzzles of years past.
In a sense, our newspaper has reached its “coming of age.”
But a lot of the issues remain the same. For instance, students were just as up-at-arms about parking in the 1980s and ‘90s as they are now. And gripes about Student Government’s handling of our Activities and Services fees are nothing new.
Though our newspaper was there to chronicle our campus’ growth, it never came without challenge — whether it be budget cuts, administrative interference or simply a lack of involvement.
Critics often argue that we “only report the bad news.” But sometimes, we are the bad news.
For instance, a Crow’s Nest advertising manager had to resign from the paper in 1998 because his role as Student Government president presented a “conflict of interest.”
And in 2011, we unknowingly published plagiarized work. An article in the Nov. 9 issue titled “Battles rage in St. Petersburg over Kerouac legacy” lifted about eight paragraphs from the then-St. Petersburg Times, The New York Times and a magazine called Fine Books & Collections.
It prompted the editor-in-chief to write a front-page story condemning the article and establish new guidelines for contributors, which can now be found in our club’s constitution through LSO.
My point is, while we’ve come a long way from where we started — and it’s definitely worth celebrating — it would be unfair to gloss over our own slip-ups over the years.
Even now, errors — both in fact and context — still make their way into the paper because we are students, and students make mistakes. (Let’s not forget the time we misspelled “controversy” in a front-page headline.)
When we learn of our errors, we correct them on our website right away and indicate what the error was for reader transparency. We also include our corrections in the next print edition. It’s part of the learning process.
That’s one of the great things about journalism. Without self-reflection, where would we be? Probably still allowing slurs in our advertisements.
We wouldn’t be here without the passionate students who passed the torch year after year after strenuous year, amid all of the uncertainty and underappreciation that journalism faces as both an industry and a fixture on this campus.
I hope we can keep the torch going for another 50 years. But we can’t do it alone.
Eight of our 10 staffers will graduate next year. After that, we don’t know whose hands the paper will be in.
As consolidation apparently moves control over A&S fees to a consolidated Student Government that is based in Tampa and dominated by Tampa senators, it’s more important than ever to advocate for keeping our paper alive.
How can you do that? By participating in our own Student Government elections (which, incidentally, start today). Elect senators who will represent your interests. Attend general assembly meetings. Make your voices heard during budget season. Write letters to the student body president, or letters to the editor of The Crow’s Nest.
Most importantly, come to a contributors meeting. Get your foot in the door, even if you’re not sure about it right away. Tell us what news stories, columns and photos you want to see — or contribute — and we’ll work to make it happen.
Don’t let the past 50 years fade away.
