As students were enjoying the last few days of summer, The Torch staff was hard at work putting together the first issue of the year.
Reporters, editors, photographers, advertising and production staff tirelessly worked to ensure the newspaper would be ready for the return of the Ferris community. This first issue is our way of saying “Welcome back!” as we, The Torch, and you, its readers, embark on yet another year together.
Because you, the readers, are as critical to the newspaper as any staff member (if not more), it’s important I update you on The Torch’s continuing budget issues. Employee wages and other operating costs are still under scrutiny, despite promises that funding was secured.
One solution for these seemingly ever-present budget issues, presented in a meeting Aug. 19 with Dean Rick Kurtz and other College of Arts and Sciences administrators, was to produce a smaller paper.
Yes, you heard me right. The Torch has been asked to potentially sacrifice quality in order to save money.
However, know that The Torch will continue to fight to provide this university’s community with the paper it deserves. Our responsibility is not to boardrooms or budgets – our responsibility is to you, the readers.
Unfortunately, Torch funds are controlled by individuals who do not seem to understand this responsibility and who believe the quality of the newspaper may need to take a backseat to the budget.
A smaller paper does not necessarily mean sacrificing quality. In my years at Ferris, it seemed to me that the Torch was mostly fluffy filler material–generally of poor quality. I am all in favor of downsizing the paper size if that means the Torch will respond with a corresponding increase in professionalism.
A smaller paper does not necessarily mean sacrificing quality. In my years at Ferris, it seemed to me that the Torch was mostly fluffy filler material–generally of poor quality. I am all in favor of downsizing the paper size if that means the Torch will respond with a corresponding increase in professionalism.
Joel, good points. More pages does not equal better newspaper. I think some on the staff in recent years would agree.
The paper was cut to a maximum 16 pages each week in recent years: To be budget-minded.
Dropping again would become a pretty small paper for a university the size of Ferris.
As for the fluffy filler material, the unfortunate reality is that when many of those items are removed the outcry from students is the loudest. It would be great if students demanded more serious news content – that just hasn’t been the situation over my five years working as adviser to the staff.
I know one of the hard things I struggled with as both a reader and a reporter of the Torch was my and other’s unwillingness to really practice investigative reporting to get to the real meat of a story. A current case in point is the security breach FSU had. This is a huge opportunity for the torch to press university officials for the information the public demands.