“Do you like long hours, little pay and criticism? If so, apply to work at The Buchtelite. So reads the sign above my desk. Life as a news editor at The Buchtelite has been just that. However, I do not wish to trade any of the numerous hours I have sacrificed to a story or investigation for anything.”
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Do you like long hours, little pay and criticism? If so, apply to work at The Buchtelite.

So reads the sign above my desk.

Life as a news editor at The Buchtelite has been just that. However, I do not wish to trade any of the numerous hours I have sacrificed to a story or investigation for anything. While working for the paper I have learned more than I could imagine, and gained the experience I would have never found in a classroom setting.

For example, when is the last time a professor discussed the hot spots for crime and gang activity near the University of Akron? How about the last time a professor’s assignment lead to an interview with President Luis Proenza or the mayor of Akron? Has a professor ever encouraged the investigation of a scandal or cover up at UA?

Likely not.

Professors are wonderful resources to learn from, but the only way to gain your own experience is through the actual dirty work. The motivation from knowing your story will be printed in 10,000 copies the next day and immortalized on the Web, is reason enough to force good journalism skills on students.

The Buchtelite is a student operated and self-funded newspaper independent of UA. All full-time staff must hold a full course load of 12 credit hours – though most take more – and are responsible to be in the office on production nights anywhere from two in the afternoon until midnight or later on some nights. Those students, including myself, who put their blood, sweat and tears into this publication are always considered learning.

We are not perfect, but we do a damn good job, and I am proud to work with each and every one of The Buchtelite staffers: past and present.

The Buchtelite allows students the freedom and ability to write any story they choose without outside censorship. As well, its independent connection to UA removes it from the aid of the university. We have an adviser and account manager hired through the university, but we are not staffed through the communication department.

Staff is paid for their work through each publication’s advertising, but oftentimes it is not the money that draws students to the paper. The experience gained from actual reporting and seeing it in the paper the next morning is what still draws students to The Buchtelite.

After two years working my way up the staff ladder I have come to realize how impressive UA’s student paper is. The Buchtelite is a student run newspaper that prints twice a week. While Kent State’s newspaper the Daily Kent Stater is a daily paper, they have the expansive resources of a journalism school to draw from.

At UA there are no professors helping us along or stopping by the office to offer suggestions, and yet we manage with a staff of approximately 20 students at any given time.

Twenty students may seem like a lot, but when each issue has three or four stories in the news section, two editorial pieces, one or two arts & life features and one or two sports stories, not to mention the countless amount of pictures needed to fill a newspaper, it all adds up.

Furthermore, not all of the 20 are writers and photographers either. At minimum, four members of the staff are copy editors who read over every piece of writing again and again to find and fix errors. Four staff members are graphic designers who help make a sections page layout and four more students are advertising representatives. This brings the number of students employed by The Buchtelite who actually report stories down to a mere nine students. This nine also includes four section editors and the editor-in-chief who already have the job of organizing and assigning writers and photographers to stories.

As an editor, I am the funnel which all news goes through. I must decide what makes the cut and when, why it is placed at the top of the page or the bottom, who is going to report the story and how best to go about getting information. I am a teacher, a boss and a writer.

As I step down for the coming year, I would encourage students to look to The Buchtelite as a resource designed to help them whether they want to write, take pictures or just read the news it provides each Tuesday and Thursday.

The Buchtelite is here to benefit students and the UA community through information they may not find anywhere else. As such a resource, it is only as good as the community it reports on.

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