By Crow’s Nest Staff
The chorus of voices opposing a proposed merger of USF’s two student newspapers just got louder.
In an editorial published Nov. 14, the Tampa campus’ twice-weekly paper called the idea flawed and unworkable.
“In a world where media outlets are already struggling to deal with fake news, how can a student publication be expected to produce continual success stories if its operations are uprooted, displaced and disproportionate?” asked The Oracle.
“The answer is simple: It won’t.”
With its strongly worded editorial, The Oracle joins The Crow’s Nest and the journalism faculties on both campuses in opposing the proposal to merge the papers.
The proposal came from a subcommittee on student success that is helping plan the consolidation of the three campuses of the USF system.
In the latest version of its “Student Publication Recommendation,” however, the subcommittee no longer specifically mentions its initial proposal for a single print paper with a new name and inside sections that could be called The Crow’s Nest and The Oracle.
Instead, the subcommittee uses murkier language, saying the USF system should conduct “assessments/research on readership and student campus identification in regards to considering whether there should be a consolidated structure.”
The subcommittee continues to call for exploration of a “fully online newspaper” – an idea both papers oppose.
The subcommittee also says the university should “create a plan” for the papers to collaborate “in order to serve the Consolidated campuses.”
The two papers, which began publication in the 1960s, have always been separate, even in the years when St. Petersburg was a tiny satellite campus under the control of Tampa.
St. Petersburg was awarded separate accreditation in 2006, but last spring the Legislature ordered the three campuses to consolidate.
In its editorial, The Oracle echoed sentiments already voiced by The Crow’s Nest and the two journalism faculties.
The two papers “cover issues that are unique to their respective campuses,” The Oracle editorial said.
“Expecting a single publication to cater to the arts and coastal issues that The Crow’s Nest deals with in downtown St. Petersburg, while also discussing the sports and medical worlds that The Oracle covers in Tampa is ludicrous.
“Having to divide resources and time between three campuses will result in a publication, new name or not, being a shell of what The Oracle once was.”
Student journalism, the editorial said, “is not merely a hobby, it is a passion.
“It is time that those responsible for making consolidation decisions not only recognize that but embrace it.”
Header photo: Whitney Elfstrom | The Crow’s Nest
