The inauguration has been the talk of the town — well the country and the world, really. Many smaller, local papers have trouble covering national news, especially in today’s economy. Sending folks out to cover stories is far more expensive than just pulling something off the wire.
To get national headlines in local papers, editors talk with each other to discuss ways to approach a topic of national interest and make it relevant to their local audience.
The Red & Black had a writer, and a managing editor at the inauguration. That puts one of our own there, on the spot, where all the news is happening. Chelsea Cook’s coverage of the inauguration was a personal touch to the event. Cook’s column offered relevance to the rest of us, stuck in class, lucky to get a view of the televised event.
On the front page of The Red & Black’s Jan. 21 paper, the dominant story is clearly the inauguration. A large photo is the main feature and nearly the entire inside of the newspaper is completely devoted to the inauguration.
It’s obvious that the editors chose to devote so much of the paper to the event, but did they go overboard? There are two stories on the front covering the inauguration. One is Cook’s column, straight from the source. The other dominant article is a campus approach to the inauguration, giving it more local relevance … a good choice by the editors.
Inside, there’s a third article about the inauguration on page three, seven photos of people on campus watching the event on TV on page four and a variety piece covering fashion and the inauguration on page five.
But it doesn’t end there! On the opinions page, both institutionals are about the inauguration. The column covers the inauguration as well as the cartoonist, giving an ode to the end to the bush era.
I think The Red & Black’s many approaches to possibly the biggest event of the year, are great attempts at adequately covering such a historic moment.
But I maintain that the paper has over budgeted for the inauguration. An editor should have stepped in and said, “Hey, do you think we might be overdoing this?”
To get national headlines in local papers, editors talk with each other to discuss ways to approach a topic of national interest and make it relevant to their local audience.
The Red & Black had a writer, and a managing editor at the inauguration. That puts one of our own there, on the spot, where all the news is happening. Chelsea Cook’s coverage of the inauguration was a personal touch to the event. Cook’s column offered relevance to the rest of us, stuck in class, lucky to get a view of the televised event.
On the front page of The Red & Black’s Jan. 21 paper, the dominant story is clearly the inauguration. A large photo is the main feature and nearly the entire inside of the newspaper is completely devoted to the inauguration.
It’s obvious that the editors chose to devote so much of the paper to the event, but did they go overboard? There are two stories on the front covering the inauguration. One is Cook’s column, straight from the source. The other dominant article is a campus approach to the inauguration, giving it more local relevance … a good choice by the editors.
Inside, there’s a third article about the inauguration on page three, seven photos of people on campus watching the event on TV on page four and a variety piece covering fashion and the inauguration on page five.
But it doesn’t end there! On the opinions page, both institutionals are about the inauguration. The column covers the inauguration as well as the cartoonist, giving an ode to the end to the bush era.
I think The Red & Black’s many approaches to possibly the biggest event of the year, are great attempts at adequately covering such a historic moment.
But I maintain that the paper has over budgeted for the inauguration. An editor should have stepped in and said, “Hey, do you think we might be overdoing this?”
All in all though, I think The Red & Black did a great job covering the event. I’d put money on it outdoing the Athens Banner-Herald. No doubt about it.
– Tahni Segars
Blog 1
Tahni,
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting post. If The Red & Black did overdo inauguration coverage, what would you have gotten rid of? One issue editors of daily publications must always deal with is not just the absolute value of a given news story, but the relative value of the available stories. So, was there something else going on Tuesday that was UNDERcovered as a result of the inauguration? If there had been a major news story on campus, perhaps one could argue it deserved more space or attention. As it stands, you'd need to convince me that there was anything more meaningful, relevant or newsworthy that would have been a better choice than any single element of the paper's inaugural coverage.
As for putting money on outdoing the Banner-Herald, you don't have to. You could actually compare the two papers' reporting and presentation. The B-H created a special section, and its front was a full-page portrait of Obama. What do you think of that choice?
Perry