Whenever I see a Tufts tour guide in the Mayer Campus Center, perched on the stairs above a pack of prospective Jumbos, saying how easy it is to start a new group, I feel like I'm watching a wolf lead a pack of sheep into her den. The incoming freshmen, baited, can't wait to put "founder" on their resume. That's why we now have over 150 student groups, each trying to meet once a week.
We are being clubbed to death. No one can possibly take advantage of what this campus has to offer, and resources are spreading so thin that the $1.4 million student activities fund is nearly depleated.
Print media groups place the largest strain on campus resources. They require the most specialized equipment, the most money in publishing costs and the largest staffs for layout, writing, photography, editing, advertising and distribution. And audiences thin as the number of publications grows, diminishing the justification for funding these groups so robustly in the first place.
Every campus needs its media staples for daily coverage, in-depth weekly comments, political coverage and some specialty groups. But the past three years have seen the addition of at least seven new publications: journals for intellectual thinkers, fashion designers, chefs, human rights and health activists, Democrats, nonpartisans, wanderlusts and the literati. Nearly all cost at least $4,000 yearly, while the Observer's budget weighs in at over $35,000.
When will the mountains of unread paper in the campus center and the dining halls be high enough to prove we have a publishing problem?
The sustainability of boutique publications is a national problem. The digital age of media has left magazines and newspapers across the country to ponder creative solutions to their decreasing profitability. Fortunately for many campus publications, advertising revenue is not a concern.
Here's a suggestion for Tufts magazine entrepreneurs: If one goal of campus media is to prepare future journalists, why not start now to think about using new media to express your ideas, both to train your mind and to get practical training beyond the written word?
Also, if you're interested in seeing your publication outlive your own passion and drive, why not approach established editorial boards at the Daily, Observer, Primary Source or elsewhere to see if you can fold your idea into their regular output?
The Tufts Financial Group (TFG) has followed this model exactly and with great success. Instead of founding a new journal, it worked out an arrangement with the Daily to publish the Tufts Financial Review. TFG took advantage of the Daily's established readership and production schedule, halving its work and at least doubling its impact. I would love to read a regular fashion column in the Observer, complete with full-color glossy photographs.
Another new resource is the Tufts Roundtable online, a campus blog portal. Bred from a written publication, the Roundtable hopes to make blogging a feature of this campus by recruiting bloggers and providing all the needed structural support. The Roundtable is a wonderful forum to explore new media with online comments, video, photography and audio in a way that is simply not possible in print.
I challenge budding publications, and even existing ones, to think more creatively about how they can collaborate with established editorial boards and work to transition online. Challenge yourself, be more forward thinking and reduce the strain on campus resources and readership.
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Duncan Pickard is a senior majoring in history. He is the Public Editor of the Media Advocacy Board and his opinions are strictly his own. He can be reached at tuftspubliceditor@gmail.com or through his blog at www.tuftsroundtable.org/publiceditor.
