The Journalists Who Make It All Happen

The crisis in journalism and the industry’s seemingly impending death has been a hot button issue for long time.

Those working in the sector, as well as the general public and elected officials, know the industry is in poor health.

Trust in journalists and the media has been eroded, legacy media companies are failing, and new media companies operating in the digital realm are struggling.

Yet at the hyperlocal level here in the university neighbourhoods, something remarkable is happening. A community-focused newspaper—printed quarterly on a relatively small budget with funds from local taxpayers—is thriving.

How?

Journalism doomsayers may have overlooked one thing—that there are concerned citizens who are willing to make an effort to report, write, and help put together a traditional newspaper–on their own time.

As the managing editor of The Campus Resident, I can say that this paper would simply not exist without the goodwill of a small group of residents living in our communities who are committed to the free flow of information and informing the public on what is happening around them. The work these volunteers do is diverse, time-consuming, stressful, sometimes fun, and in my opinion, indispensable for a functioning society that’s committed to democratic ideals.

How is the newspaper put together?

Each issue of The Campus Resident—whether one of our quarterly printed issues or a monthly digital issue posted to our website—begins the same way: with a meeting of the Newspaper Editorial Committee.

UNA board chair Richard Watson says the motivation for setting up the committee came from a belief in the value of independent journalism and free expression. And to demonstrate that commitment, the editorial board is mandated to meet during closed sessions to make its decisions by consensus, in conjunction with the newspaper’s managing editor.

“The Newspaper Editorial Committee, composed of a diverse set of resident volunteers, with a mandate of setting the editorial direction and recruiting its content creators, allows The Campus Resident to function successfully as a paper for residents, by residents,” Watson says.

“I don’t think this structure would have worked as well in any other community, but we live in a place where people are generous with their time and expertise and are always eager to step up to the plate and contribute. We are very lucky indeed.”

The committee—selected by UNA board members from an open application process last year—generates a long list of story ideas and discusses them at the monthly meetings.

Members have an opportunity to discuss the merit of each idea and ask questions. For example: Will this story be of interest to our readers? Is it pertinent to someone living in the university neighbourhoods? Is it written in a way that’s accessible to newcomers to our community? And much more.

Sometimes our stories are a little out of left field, like when Premier David Eby wrote a review on Wesbrook Village’s newest eateries last year. And sometimes they might ruffle feathers, like when we ran an opinion piece from a resident who held grievances with how the UNA was spending its budget.

Most of our stories aim to inform readers about what’s new and interesting in our community, and these stories are written by an extremely diverse team of volunteers who live, study, and work in our communities.

Make no mistake, these volunteers are out there working much like professional newspaper reporters: researching and seeking information from bureaucrats and elected officials. This is journalism, pure and simple.

Once our reporters have hit their deadlines and submitted their stories, committee members will get to work again, putting in more time to copyedit and sharpen each article so they’re ready for publication, whether in print or online.

And once an issue is put together, it’s usually only a few days before the entire process will begin for the following issue.

Here are some of the volunteers who make The Campus Resident tick: