If you take anything away from this column, let it be this: If you have any interest in journalism or gaining writing experience, join the Herald. Now. They want and need you.

After seeing a few issues following last week’s registration issue, one looming issue is starting to present itself: The paper is getting sloppy early. But let me get specific, so I don’t give people the impression the paper is falling apart. 

Sports’ coverage of the Badgers’ collapse is appropriately critical and arts’ attempt to run original columns and cover local events has been fairly steady, with the notable exception of the YouTube video rundown Tuesday. In sum – Ian McCue, Allegra Dimperio and Joe Nistler are running their respective ships soundly. There is criticism I could lob their way, but, frankly, news and opinion have far greater issues.

News on a skeleton staff

The best way to sum up news’s problems is to review a story written Monday. Higher Education Editor Tara Golshan wrote a story about the perception of a brain drain at UW and whether it actually has a basis in reality. Golshan said she was aiming more for a story about Madison’s ability to attract young people and the job prospects of the city. 

But problems with the story were numerous: The two studies mentioned were out of date by about two years, and Wisconsin Public Research Institute was not marked as a right-leaning free-market think tank. The low percentage of out-of-state students that remain after graduation was presented without any critical analysis – most of the data was framed as positive, based on quotes from UW System spokesman David Giroux – and Epic Systems was characterized as a Madison business when it has actually been located in Verona since 2005. The biggest issue is the writer wanted to take a larger look at the brain drain issue and Madison’s draw to younger people. She admitted after the story she didn’t really have an opportunity or time to do that. 

This is not an isolated incident. State Legislative Editor Polo Rocha had to write five stories for Friday’s paper, and the strain showed. He had to cover a Student Services Finance Committee meeting as well, which isn’t his beat. That showed. 

It’s understandable given the Herald’s situation. After last year, a surprisingly large amount of writers moved on to other jobs and activities and left the Herald with big holes to fill. So what happens is this: Beat editors, those charged with covering specific beats, don’t have reporters to cover events for them, and so they must do reporting on top of editing. If the beat editors are overworked, the top news editors are overworked to help them out. With everyone’s time in news occupied with day-to-day business, the paper loses the ability to work on long-term stories and in-depths. 

Usually, this gets sorted out after a week or two, but the new writers meeting did not bring in as many writers as expected. Editor-in-Chief Ryan Rainey said the Herald will send out a mass email this weekend to attract writers, and he has been flyering at the Student Org Fair. These are helpful steps, but the Herald needs to rebuild organizationally before the systemic problems of the news department can be fixed. It needs to do it soon, or else an overextended news section will cost the paper dearly in the long run.

Issues in opinion

Opinion has had its problems over the years, including a definite lack of writers. Folks like Content Editor Charles Godfrey should be praised for their efforts at crafting hyperlocal content – I’m not that interested in articles on the new chemistry building, but I understand many people are tired of that building and would like the much-needed upgrade. Given the need to approve the building at the state level, it’s pertinent to write on. 

But other writers keep focusing on national issues. There is a reason why The Onion did an article making fun of a college newspaper endorsing Obama – because the commentary is largely repetitive and without any real proximity or authority to the issue. This doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be spoken, but when your writing sounds like that of a pundit, you have to have something unique to say, or at the very least articulate your point well. That becomes very hard to do when opinion writers cite the Wisconsin State Journal and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel for things that are obvious. 

Take the opinion column on Tammy Baldwin’s framing of Tommy Thompson in the U.S. Senate campaign. Anyone who has seen the ads on television or YouTube knows Thompson is being portrayed as a Washington insider by the campaign, and the footage of Thompson refusing to release his tax returns is online for all to view. So why does the article cite a news source when the writer could have just asserted it? It’s independently verifiable – there’s no reason to lean on other news organizations for a reference. When I talked to Godfrey last week about it, he seemed to still be trying to decide how to deal with the citing issue. 

Instead, have the writers list their citations along with the copy, but don’t leave in the attribution unless it can’t be independently verified. If it’s a MJS exclusive, cite it, by all means. But if you personally can scrutinize Paul Ryan’s comments, why rely on The Washington Post to say they raised eyebrows? You can and should say it yourself, as long as you are right on the facts. 

The memes are another, but smaller, issue. Don’t get me wrong – they’re funny, occasionally incisive alternate representations of opinion that are well suited to a college newspaper. But they’re unsigned, without attribution to anyone and usually take up space when there is a lack of it. Overuse of those memes and the snarky responses to reader comments could turn the opinion page into a drifting comics page.

Plaudits

To give a doom and gloom to opinion neglects the good work done by those at the paper. Notable to mention are the efforts of both Sigrid Hubertz and Gus McNair. Their special designs have been, for the most part, clean and enticing. I especially enjoyed the arts “Choose Your Own Adverture” design spread. Nice concept from arts, nice execution from Sigrid. McNair’s special design for the reg issue should also be mentioned. In addition, the photos from Andy Fate for the Montee Ball profile were quite well done, especially the photo of him spread out against the brick wall – it provided a nice backdrop for the sports special design.

Jason Smathers ([email protected]) is a reporter for WisPolitics.com and a former editor-in-chief for The Badger Herald. Feel free to email him your questions and concerns with coverage.