The Marcolian Online

Feb. 1, 2007

Radio, TV, but no newspaper?

by Erin Siebel
siebele@marietta.edu
When you major in any area of mass media here at Marietta College, you are required to take a certain number of classes. These range from Intro to Mass Media to Writing for the Media to Broadcast Journalism. Along with the typical coursework for these classes, mass media students are also required to help with the college TV station WCMO and the radio station WMRT every week. For most students, this seems fair and fine, and they probably enjoy it. But to me, something seems missing. And it’s this student publication you’re reading right now.

The Marcolian is run entirely through student input. Those who work for it do so out of the goodness of their heart and a small monetary reward. But the majority of mass media students do not contribute. We have an extremely small staff that writes every article in every issue. And every week we are frustrated come press time when there aren’t enough stories to fill our pages because we simply did not have enough writers.

I think that this problem could be extremely alleviated if students were required to contribute to the Marcolian just as they are required to contribute to WCMO and WMRT. It seems as if we lowly journalists were overlooked when the faculty chose the course curriculum of the Mass Media Department. If students not particularly equipped or interested are thrown into working for the TV and radio stations, why aren’t we given a little love as well? These courses are supposed to teach students about all different areas of the media, and yet students are not taught the ins and outs of working at a newspaper. Even journalism majors or minors aren’t required to help with the newspaper.

I understand that a lot of mass media students aren’t interested in the Marcolian, but we are a part of the department and should get as much consideration and contributions as other areas. We all need to learn what it means to work in the mass media, and it seems entirely unreasonable that our little paper isn’t given the same consideration.
But that’s just me.


• Campus News • Viewpoints • Sports • Arts & Living • Greek wrap-up • Ask Marc • Spotlight • New faces at MC • Meet our staff • Staff profiles • Letters to the editor policy • History of the newspaper • Benefits of advertising • Ad rates		Feb. 1, 2007 Radio, TV, but no newspaper? by Erin Siebel siebele@marietta.edu When you major in any area of mass media here at Marietta College, you are required to take a certain number of classes. These range from Intro to Mass Media to Writing for the Media to Broadcast Journalism. Along with the typical coursework for these classes, mass media students are also required to help with the college TV station WCMO and the radio station WMRT every week. For most students, this seems fair and fine, and they probably enjoy it. But to me, something seems missing. And it’s this student publication you’re reading right now. The Marcolian is run entirely through student input. Those who work for it do so out of the goodness of their heart and a small monetary reward. But the majority of mass media students do not contribute. We have an extremely small staff that writes every article in every issue. And every week we are frustrated come press time when there aren’t enough stories to fill our pages because we simply did not have enough writers. I think that this problem could be extremely alleviated if students were required to contribute to the Marcolian just as they are required to contribute to WCMO and WMRT. It seems as if we lowly journalists were overlooked when the faculty chose the course curriculum of the Mass Media Department. If students not particularly equipped or interested are thrown into working for the TV and radio stations, why aren’t we given a little love as well? These courses are supposed to teach students about all different areas of the media, and yet students are not taught the ins and outs of working at a newspaper. Even journalism majors or minors aren’t required to help with the newspaper. I understand that a lot of mass media students aren’t interested in the Marcolian, but we are a part of the department and should get as much consideration and contributions as other areas. We all need to learn what it means to work in the mass media, and it seems entirely unreasonable that our little paper isn’t given the same consideration. But that’s just me.
Mailing address: Marietta College Box A-20, Marietta, Ohio 45750-4000 Physical address: McKinney Media Center, 508 Putnam St, Marietta, Ohio Phone: (740) 376-4555 E-mail: marc@marietta.edu