College Students Mixed About Online Journalism
By, Jessica De Vivo

“I have mixed feelings, but am generally opposed,” said 20 year-old Kaeli Byers, a Gordon College Pike-Middle-Eastern Studies major, when asked what she thought of the campus’ Tartan newspaper ending its print to become an online source. Byers believed that, while much is currently online, there is too much dependency on technology these days.

“It is a great way for students to publish their work and actually have a newspaper to hold,” said Byers, reflecting on the “good old days” of print journalism. She feels that people will be much less inclined to read the Tartan once it goes completely online. “Why read it online when you can read the BBC News?” The readership of the campus paper will decrease, according to Byers.

Many students obtain their news from various sources, some preferring the television, while others use the radio or internet, as seen in Professor Jo Kadlecek’s journalism class. Katherine Sama, a Gordon College student from Windsor, Connecticut, said that she mainly uses the Internet for her news because it is somewhere she goes on a daily basis.

Others, such as sophomore Maia Mattson, obtain news from the National Public Radio. Many students, however, seem to embrace the ease of using the Internet as a news source. Perhaps this is a sign that many students will find themselves reading the Tartan more often than they would have if it remained in print. However, the Tartan is a completely different news source. It pertains mainly to issues surrounding the campus, rather than covering the hottest news off the press that such students in Professor Kadlecek’s class were seeking when they ran to the Internet as a news source.

The current issue surrounding the Tartan’s shift from print to the Web obviously encourages concern and debate. On the one hand, the Tartan will no longer remain a paper which students can grab on the go or read while cramming in a meal, yet, on the other side of the spectrum, with the population of students today being technologically inclined, perhaps much hope remains for this new day for the Tartan. One can only wait and see.