Newspapers / Daily Tar Heel (Chapel … / Feb. 21, 1975, edition 1 / Page 8
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Founded February 23, 1S93 "D ona USaeir Q: Many of the platforms seem similar. What distinguishes your candidacy from the others? . A: Grand schemes to improve the DTH's quality are worthless without a thorough journalistic background and campus-wide experience. We can best work to alleviate the problems of the DTH because we have worked in major positions at the paper and can pinpoint the breakdowns in organization. We know how to actively use the power of the press because we have worked with the media outside the University. We comprehend the dynamics of the University because we have involved ourselves extensively in a vast array of student affairs. The editor of the student newspaper must know the campus and understand where the pressure points of the University lie; otherwise, attempts to innovate the campus will be lost in the bureaucratic shuffle. We have the understandings. 1 Q: Why are you running for co-editors? A: The most demanding student position on campus the editorship of the DTH requires journalistic, administrative, recruiting public relational and financial talents to name an important few. To consistently produce the best possible student newspaper, the editors must remain flexible enough to devote the proper amount of time to the diverse responsibilities of the office. A co-editorship allows for a greater devotion of time. The DTH was run by co-editors in 1955-56. Three sets of co-editors served consecutively froms1962-65. Some of our fellow candidates have asserted that a co-editorship cannot work and has never worked in the past. We have talked personally The Daily Tar Heel can be a positive force on campus, battling the dragons of indifference, bureaucratic incompetence and denial of student rights (through photographic surveillance and the like). But it cannot effectively mobilize student sentiment until its leadership stops recruiting student input from friends and friends of friends. Students cannot be expected to listen to the DTH until the DTH is willing to listen to them. I am willing to listen. ' oBvious improvements in the DTH have been neglected by both current and prospective editors. Including the sixth day of Doonesbury and Peanuts to preserve the continuity of those strips is an obvious improvement. A weekly supplement to relate the programs and activities of the more than 60 area organizations dedicated to arts and entertainment is another obvious improvement. Designation of investigative reporters freed from the pressures of a daily deadline and heat reporters to develop campus wide contacts would provide more thorough news coverage and would aid the watchdog function of the student press. These innovations must no longer be neglected. My proposed editorial policy rests largely upon their implementation. Increased input and various perspectives can be achieved through solicitation of contributions, pro-con companion articles, editorial conferences and staff meetings. A Readership Service Coordinator can search out student reactions to the DTH and can insure that campus activities and local slants to national issues are included in the paper. If the Daily Tar Heel makes you feel like a bastard at a family reunion, read on. But first let me urge you to ignore any blanket endorsement such as was given Wednesday last by our Media Board. It was, is, and will be worth about this much: " ". The thrust of my campaign for the editorship is to give Chapel Hill's so-called morning newspaper (Choke!) back to you the student. It is a newspaper, yes, and rumor has it that it does come out in the morning, mere rumor, but Chapel Hill's morning newspaper? Baloney! During an illuminating 15 minute interview with the co-editors concerning this race for the editorship, 1 finally realized what the main problems have been this year. There are two: (I) Jim Cooper, and (2) Greg Turosak, and the pious, uncohesive leadership that they collectively manage to muster. This is a problem that you as a voter must solve. Solutions to problems such as accessibility, relevancy, circulation and distribution are simple. Freelance editor. The creation of such a position to solicit and if at all possible to pay Tor contributions from the non-staff, student body at large would be an intimate contact at the Daily Tar Heel for students wishing to contribute news, features, sports and photo articles to the student newspaper. In concert with this is a badly needed tightening of the Tar Heel belt in short, a reduction in the number of regular paid staff positions. There are more people on the staff of the Daily Tar Heel than there are on the staff of the News and Observer and yet staff output is The Daily Tar Heel 82nd Year of Editorial Freedom All unsigned editorials are the opinion of the editors. Letters and columns represent the opinions of individuals. aiud Haunrnelt with at least one of the co-editors from each of these past administrations. They unanimously affirm that the co-editorship works and works famously well. Gary Blanchard, co-editor in 1962, said, lf you have two people who are compatible and think the co-editorship can work, then it works extremely well." The success of the co-editorship depends on the personalities of the individuals. We have known and worked together nearly all of our lives. Our co-editorship will be the sort of cooperative endeavor that provides the vast amounts of time needed for a successful newspaper. Q: Do you foresee difficulties in decision making? A: A co-editorship forces the pounding out of disagreements and a more careful consideration of all policies. Deliberation over the positive and negative aspects of a position is healthy for both the editors and the paper. As co-editors, we will further expand this decision-making process. The news, managing and associate editors will all have designated voices in prescribing and coordinating news and editorial policy. Q: Often, I can't even find a newspaper. How will you remedy the distribution problem? A: While space doesn't permit a proper explanation of the situation, we would begin to alleviate this problem by increasing daily circulation from 17,500 to 20,000. Through a number of measures, we plan to bring pressure to " bear upon faculty and administrators to be more accountable for the copies they use. Finally, we will experiment with a plan of staggered distribution, so late-risers will be able to find a DTH. Cole Co Gamelbell To increase the availability of the Tar Heel and decrease its drain on student fees, I propose: 1 . Negotiation of a bulk subscription rate for , the University to pay for copies for faculty and staff. The Daily Californian of Berkeley receives $20,000 a year for 2,500 copies a day for the administration. This capital would permit an increase in total copies of the D TH to be distributed. 2. Investigation of a fee check-off system, whereby readers would decide whether part of their current fees ought to go to the DTH. This would increase responsiveness, decrease political interference and spur independence. 3. Change in the width of the paper by one inch, thus saving 215,600,000 square inches of paper a year, the equivalent of 1,1 66 extra copies a day. Auditing the press run at the printers and increasing circulation to 20,000 or 25,000 by increasing ad rates (thus decreasing space consumed by ads) would also increase availability. 4. Improvement in the distribution system to get papers and people together, putting copies on the major bus routes is a possible option. This is the kind of constructive innovation that must be adopted if the DTH is to become an effective servant of Carolina students. Such innovation can only be impeded if the leadership of the DTH is permitted to stagnate. The choice for editor must be yours and not a choice dictated by the current establishment. We must be wary of candidates who have dabbled in so many campus activities and affairs that they have not had time to contribute much IBamey Day pitiful. Cohesiveness is sorely lacking at the Daily Tar Heel. Something is terribly wrong when $190 out of last month's $400 telephone bill was spent for calls that could have been made toll-free. That's the kind of show the present leadership is putting on for you at the Daily Tar Heel. A Variation that lives up to its name regularly. About the only way it comes close to doing it now is in the irregularity of publication. A magazine supplement is an excellent way for a newspaper to further, its service to a reading audience but from what we've seen of ours this year it should be called stagnation. Its pages should be opened up to the student body to include feature, humor, and fiction articles, as well as in-depth, investigative coverage of student consumer concerns and concise, thorough previews of upcoming events and entertainments all on a regular publication basis. Variation should be a variation. Local emphasis. A local emphasis needs to be instilled at the Daily Tar Heel in the form of in-depth, investigative, get-down-to-the-bone articles on issues that affect you as a student. Let me stress the point that I do not want to eliminate entirely national and international news coverage in the pages of the Tar Heel, but only to de-emphasize it to where it is relevant to you. The same is the case with many of the half-baked editorials you now read in this paper. Many times now you are being kept in the dark on pertinent local events due to negligence by the Daily Tar Heel. Thorough campus coverage. A student Friday, February 21, 1975 Q: What will the most evident changes be in your paper? A: Only a very brief accounting of our platform can be dealt with in this space. We encourage you to talk to our canvassers as they approach you during the campaign. However, we believe the DTH must fulfill its potential as the most vocal advocate of student concerns. Is there a need for a living-learning center on campus? Should the bus system be extended into Carrboro? How can we ail work to remedy the drastic racial division on this campus? Through researching, writing and coordinating news stories and editorials, and through a concentration on comprehensive campus coverage, we will actively study and recommend solutions for problems such as these. Briefly, our platform includes the following: Actively recruiting reporters including special interest reporters and departmental and organizational contacts to open the paper to more students. Emphasizing more comprehensive campus news and the local impact of state and national events. Staffing a monthly, problem-oriented news features magazine. Creating an editorial research board to study complicated University issues and aid the editors in composing informative editorials. A successful editorship requires workable ideas as well as experience with the DTH and other campus affairs. One without the other will not produce the desired results. Harriet Sugar is a journalism major and Don Baer is a journalism I political science major. Both are juniors from Fayetteville. to any of them. We must also be wary of candidates who have narrowed their interests to working only with the DTH. Either of these extremes is dangerous: the former because of the potential for shallowness, the latter because of the potential for a lack of perspective. As a former high school reporter and sports editor, copy editor for the summer Tar Heel, occasional contributor to the DTH and the Cellar Door, the current associate editor of the national journal Speaker and Gavel, and a member of the editorial board of Information Research Associates of Washington, D.C., I have the basic understanding of the dynamics of the press to insure that my ideals and proposals can be translated into realities. As an English major and student in journalism (with studies in all fundamental areas of newspaper work) I can strive to incorporate the highest standards of communication and journalism in the pages of the Daily Tar Heel. The DTH can be an effective force, if we will free it from the stagnation of self-selected leadership. Creativity and imagination are worth a lot more than rote experience or political clout. Unwanted prejudice because of a candidate's sex, educational or marital status or lifestyle cannot be tolerated. Look for such prejudices in any recommendations regarding how you should vote. Free the press from stagnation and indifference, and slay the dragons. Cole C. Campbell is a senior English major from Winston-Salem. newspaper should thoroughly cover the reason for its very existence. At present the. Daily Tar Heel does not do this. Something is wrong when publications such as Black Ink and She are forced into existence due to the negligence of the Daily Tar Heel. Thorough regular coverage of fraternities, sororities, BSM activities, graduate and women student interests and regular coverage of the intramural sports program is lacking in the Tar Heel. You can change this. Increased circulation with even distribution. This is the complaint we all have. You do not get your newspaper regularly, if at all. The main problem is that there are simply not enough to go around, and often what few there are are distributed illogically. That's the main problem. The main reason is uncohesive leadership and a "don't-give-a-damn-just-get-it-out" attitude. Circulation can be increased substantially with nominal relative increase in cost and distribution could be done logically. You give me your vote and I'll give you your newspaper. In five days next Wednesday you can use your vote to institute badly needed changes in. this paper, or you can vote for the same old shit again. I am qualified for the editorship and I have listed nothing here that I am not absolutely confident I can do. I ask for your support because I am still convinced that the only thing two editors can do that one can't is disagree. Barnie Day is a senior journalism major from Rocksboro. IE Elliott Warnock, editor of the Tar Heel during the summer 1974, restated his platform for the Daily Tar Heel editorship Thursday afternoon. Included in his plans for the DTH arc. distribution of papers to all dorms and major campus bus stops, a greater coverage of campus events, and the creation of an editorial board. A junior journalism student from Chapel Hill, Warnock has worked for five years on the Daily Tar Heel, first joining the staff as a high school junior. "I've seen the good editors leave, and the bad ones stay to haunt the campus like a bad dream," he commented recently. Warnock said most of the students were dissatisfied with the DTH's poor coverage of campus events and the ineffective distribution system. Having worked in the paper's circulation, news, sports and photography departments, Warnock stated "the major problem of the DTH is centered in the power vacuum created by co-editors. "First priority of the editor is to make sure students receive the paper they pay for," said Warnock. "Anyone who has delivered the paper can easily see that the problem is distribution . . . not mere numbers. "While the business manager and myself are in favor of increased circulation, the problem won't be solved until we deliver enough papers to each . dorm, on time, everyday," he continued. "Copies should be left at each major campus bus stop, as well as the Union, Scuttlebut, Y-Court and other places to insure the off-campus students of getting a paper. "The paper students read , must keep them informed of the events directly affecting them daily," Warnock said. "More reporters must be assigned to specific campus beats. Students need to know more about the administration, activities of campus groups like the RHA, Student Government, YMCA, BSM and dorm councils." Warnock was also the editor of the short-lived ACC Sporting News, which one Playboy, Inc. representative called "the best new magazine put out in the U.S. in the last two years." "Being editor of the summer Tar Heel &nd the ACC Sporting News gave me the experience needed in the assembly of a fresh staff," he remarked. "The creation of an editorial board is the best way to give balance to a newspaper's staff." Warnock noted an editorial board should fulfill the following functions: The Daily Tar Heel oem Wrislhtt Instead of delivering a lot of meaningless rhetoric 1 will take this opportunity to put my platform before you and let you make your decision on that basis. I am not making any promises to anyone. 1 am telling people how I think the DTH should be run. My platform is: Make the . editorial oaee into a student forum. No one philosophy is shared by ail students so no one person should control the D 77 editorial policy. Reduce ad space by raising the ad rates. . Eliminate the rampant bias and inaccuracy in news stories. Concentrate on campus and local news. National and world news would be run in summary form. A complete overhaul of the inadequate distribution system of the DTH. if fv ir, J& THE NEW OWNER?? WE THOUGHT HE WAS A TERRORIST!' aiiaIil(Q)lX take a weekly poll of campus opinions on news coverage and on the DTH itself actively recruit columns from diversified campus organizations and individuals improve the content of the editorial page work daily on the lay-out and in all departments of DTH production. "Each member of the editorial board would be a multi-faceted person,? said Warnock. "Their experience and skills would be devoted to the improvement of the entire DTH. "The editor is the single most important member of the DTH staff. It is the editor's responsibility to establish the style of the DTH. and work with each member to produce a superlative paper daily. In that respect, the editor must be the skilled person on the DTH. so that each member can gain from his experience." Warnock said the editor must do more than just concern himself with the activites of the DTH office. To do an effective job, he said, the editor must combine extensive experience in journalism with a knowledge of University operations. "It quickly became clear that it is beneficial to have a knowledge of how the University functions " Warnock said of his tenure as an editor. "Just as students turn to the Tar Heel for information, reporters turn to the editor to learn the fastest way to cut through red tape to dig out a story. , "We can't wait for the Administration to decide when it will, or will not, deliver information," he added. "The DTH staff must constantly search for the news, while it is developing." Warnock also supported the establishment of a Sunday morning issue of the Tar Heel, saying it would: provide a medium for in-depth investigative reporting give an overview of all campus activities and events create the opportunity for additional revenues for the Tar Heel allow experimentation of lay-out, writing styles and story topics. "To revitalize the Tar Heel, we must choose an editor who combines a vast amount of experience, technical skill and innovative ideas," Warnock concluded. Elliott Warnock is a junior journalism major from Chapel Hill. Jim Cooper, Greg Turosak Editors David Ennis, Associate Editor Lu Ann Jones, Associate Editor David Klinger, News Editor Alan Murray, Features Editor Susan Shackelford, Sports Editor Gene Johnson, Wire Editor Martha Stevens, Head Photographer Jim Grimsley, Night Editor Hire a resident professional journalist who would have no control over editorial policy or news selection. Make the Advertising Department into a lab for business, advertising and art major and others who wish to get experience. Eliminate the office politics on the DTH. Eliminate the political spoils system in staff appointments. Free non-commercial classified ads. 1 am a journalism major. 1 have worked on four newspapers. 1 have contributed articles to the DTH and have given them information that they couldn't get. I am on the news staff of WCAR and am a stringer for WDBS-FM in Durham. . Tom W right is a junior journalism major from Birmingham. Ala.
Daily Tar Heel (Chapel Hill, N.C.)
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Feb. 21, 1975, edition 1
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