Originally Posted by sew12

Can I write in and complain about that annoying thumbs up/thumbs down feature? Does the whole campus want to read your inside jokes? No thanks.

Haha, I encourage it!

Originally Posted by c.erl

Haha, I encourage it!

Perhaps I will start reading again then and send in an opinion piece. I've been tempted in the past, but just forget about it.

I've actually thought about going to write for the Sil since I love writing and thought it might be a good way to get involved but the meetings are never at times that gel with my schedule, so sending in opinion pieces might be the next best option.

Originally Posted by sew12

Perhaps I will start reading again then and send in an opinion piece. I've been tempted in the past, but just forget about it.

I've actually thought about going to write for the Sil since I love writing and thought it might be a good way to get involved but the meetings are never at times that gel with my schedule, so sending in opinion pieces might be the next best option.

Thats a great idea! The Opinions editor, Peter Goffin, is a really approachable guy, and will help you if you have any questions along the way. You can write on pretty much anything you'd like, and they're always looking for new points of view.

Opinion articles are fun to write, great to read and showcase the diverse array of beliefs we have as a community. It really is democracy at its finest!

Chris,

As a person who tried to get involved with the Sil for years (literally, the three previous years), make sure Green checks his email and responds to messages.

If you try and get involved and you get no response, well...here I am being critical.

Originally Posted by c.erl

I'm not just saying this because I'm a frequent contributor to the Sil and because I think newspapers in general are a vital part to a vibrant community, but because what I'm hearing is absurd!

Everyone wants to see the Sil cover things more relevant to students or wants to see less negativity...

So step up and volunteer! I think we all forget that the Sil is a student run, largely volunteer newspaper, which relies on the contribution of the general population to run effectively.

Many contributors and editors are students too, balancing readings, essays, mid-terms and The Sil, so you can't expect everything to be perfect. Even the Globe and Mail gets things wrong, and they have paid professionals on their staff.

If you want to see a change in YOUR student newspaper, attend the section meetings and offer to write for them (News, Wednesdays @ 12:30...Inside Out/ANDY, Mondays @ 1:30...Sports, Thursdays @ 1:30).

Opinions and editorials are always welcome, and, so long as they are written well and aren't filled with racist taunts, have a good chance of being accepted.

Too often, we just say "It's messed up...lets get rid of it!" This reactionary behaviour doesn't take into consideration the significant impact things like newspapers have on a community.

If you're really concerned, step up and participate! You can really change things with a little initiative and drive!

And you can definitely start by answering the question the editorial board posted!

Pretty much everyone who works and volunteers at The Sil is a student (except Jeff Green). I could be wrong but I think that's the case.
Anyway, I have volunteered/contributed to The Sil in the past (a few years ago). To be honest, seeing the interworkings of the newspaper made me dislike it even more. The constant ripping on certain SRA/MSU members, the personal jokes throughout the paper that no one besides Sil staff understands, to name a few things.

It's easy to say "If you don't like what's being written, then contribute!", but that doesn't mean you get to contribute whatever you want. For News, you're told what you can write about. For opinion, the Opinions Editor has to select your article if he wants it in the paper. For Andy, you have to suggest what you want to write on and get it approved.

While I'm all for student involvement in school programs and activities, changing The Sil isn't as easy as "Get out there and contribute".

As for the typos, there is a paid position at The Sil (can't remember the name) where someone goes over and proofreads everything before the paper is published. Combine that with spellchecker and there's really no need for basic grammatical mistakes.

With the amount of money The Sil receives, the website, the resources it has access to.. it could be really great. I'm disappointed in what a joke it has become.

Originally Posted by lorend

Chris,

As a person who tried to get involved with the Sil for years (literally, the three previous years), make sure Green checks his email and responds to messages.

If you try and get involved and you get no response, well...here I am being critical.

Alas, this is a problem. As a lowly servant to the media (I'm not even sure if I'm on "staff" yet...), I have little control over the sometimes atrocious communicatory habits of some of the editors, and the only excuse I can give is that they are swamped with work and do their best.

I, myself, have had some problems with communication and The Sil, but there's not much I can do other than raise that point and hope for the best.

Originally Posted by lorend

Chris,

As a person who tried to get involved with the Sil for years (literally, the three previous years), make sure Green checks his email and responds to messages.

If you try and get involved and you get no response, well...here I am being critical.

I completely understand this. They really don't check their email, or bother to respond to students.

If you're desperate to write for them, it's probably best to show up at the office and talk to someone face to face.

Originally Posted by huzaifa47

Well Kathy the Sil is run by interesting people who have a unique theory of editorial autonomy that makes them not usually cover issues that most student's would care about. Hence the common negative statement I hear within the MSU and outside "Who read's the Sil" or when I comment about errors in an article or how it isn't that good "What do you expect? Its the Sil!"

Which I find sad because I love the concept of newspapers and their role on campus. So much potential with the Sil goes unaccomplished because of "editorial" autonomy.

I was talking the other day to an experienced student newspaper journalist Joey Coleman and he told me that the Sil is one of the best funded and well equipped student newspapers in Canada in his experience. Their Design Editors are paid more then the Head Editor of the Uoft's Varsity(which ALSO isn't funded by student levy/fees like Sil is) that produces two copies a week. Then they have a large number of staff and large number of top of the line computers that aren't used most days of the week.

There is so much potential with the Sil, they can have no excuse for not being a more widely read and popular student newspaper!

I'm going to make some clarifications to the above. I stated that the pay grids are higher at The Silhouette than The Varsity. However, it is not exactly an apple to apple comparison. The Varsity has less paid staff, tons of volunteers, and the news editor is full-time. The Editor-in-Chief there makes less compensation than The Silhouette. However, this is a reflection of the McMaster Student Union's decision to have the highest compensation of any student union executive in the country.

The Varsity does receive a small student levy. It is the newspaper (www.thenewspaper.ca) which has no student levy. the newspaper -yes, it is actually called that - runs only once a week. The Varsity is twice weekly most weeks with the odd week of a single issue (after a long weekend).

Toronto is a very different media market than Hamilton. First, editors of The Varsity have traditionally freelanced for a mainstream media publication. As an editor of The Varsity, they are well-position to enter the media upon graduation due to the connections they make well at the paper. Hence, the slightly lower compensation does not reflect these fringe benefits.

the newspaper can survive without a student levy due to its location in downtown Toronto - there are a lot of businesses in the uToronto area to sell advertising to. (DISCLAIMER - I'm a contributor to the newspaper in the arts section covering opera, symphony, and ballet)

As for the typos, there is a paid position at The Sil (can't remember the name) where someone goes over and proofreads everything before the paper is published. Combine that with spellchecker and there's really no need for basic grammatical mistakes.

I know the person with the proof-reading paid position and this person definitely catches the mistakes. Whether or not the section editors (News, Opinions, Sports, Andy, InsideOut) make the suggested changes is another story. The difference in editors may explain the section to section variation.

So I sent Jeff an email responding to the question in his editorial, and I feel as if it made some sense, so I will post it here now that this topic has come up.

I believe your paper should cover this issue. I will briefly describe why I think so.

For one thing, it is a event that is of importance and of interest to
the student body. All undergraduate students are members of the
McMaster Students Union. The election of the President of the MSU, which represents 20,000 students, is of importance and of interest to the student body. In this case, is important that they are provided information that will help them learn more about the different candidates, and how the election process is going, and encourage them to vote. This brings me to my next point.

Only 12.5% of the undergraduate population voted in the last
Presidential election. This is something that has been critisized on
many occasions by the Sil and the student body, and for good reason.
It means that the president is not very representative of the whole
student body. By covering the election, more students will be aware of
the election and the candidates, and this will directly increase voter
turn-out in the upcoming election.

Most importantly, is is in the Sil's operating policy to inform students of issues that are of importance and interest to the McMaster community.
Section 2.1 in the Operating Policy (1.3.1- The Silhouette) states:

"As a means of communication, The Silhouette shall serve as an agent of
social awareness, and give priority to informing the student population
on issues of importance and interest to the McMaster community,
emphasizing direct student issues"

It is the papers mandate that they follow this policy. This is very
important to the paper running productively and to the purpose that it
exists.

----

There are many parts of the Silhouette that are very good and reflect the interest of the student community. However, there still are many, many aspects of the paper that people aren't happy with. These need to be addressed, and not by circular discussions. Points should be formed, and the Operating Policy should be directly addressed. Check out The Sil's Operating Policy here.

Originally Posted by Kathy2

I completely understand this. They really don't check their email, or bother to respond to students.

If you're desperate to write for them, it's probably best to show up at the office and talk to someone face to face.

At this point, I figure if someone really wanted me there, they would have responded to my emails.

I also couldn't manage another extra-curricular.

Originally Posted by McIntyre

Without a student levy how would a student newspaper support itself in any way? That's condemning it to fail and I don't want McMaster to be one of the few Universities without a paper. I really appreciate what Chris Erl said. I guess I just think that it's funny that everyone is complaining that the Silhouette is overly negative - well look at how negative and unconstructive this thread is. Just like some SRA members respond to people who criticize the MSU - GET INVOLVED! You can make a difference and changes. I just don't see how this is productive in any way.

Without a student levy the newspaper can support itself through advertising and putting a price on the papers - this way, they would be forced to produce a quality product that people want to read. Right now they're just living off of student money like a parasite and producing a paper of little value to the stakeholders. Sorry if you disagree but I feel quite strongly about this.

Again, not everyone can get involved and as stakeholders we're allowed to have an opinion.

Originally Posted by c.erl

If you want to see a change in YOUR student newspaper, attend the section meetings and offer to write for them (News, Wednesdays @ 12:30...Inside Out/ANDY, Mondays @ 1:30...Sports, Thursdays @ 1:30).

I cant claim I know anything that goes on in the meetings but it strikes me as odd that they are having a News meeting a week before the paper is printed. To me it seems like a possible reason they are so slow with their news. If they are planning that far in advance they are going to be missing most of the breaking news. Just a thought.

The elections cycle is ending at UBC this week with voting well underway. Today is the first of five days of voting. As of three hours ago, the student union election service reported 1139 votes had been cast.

I'm working on a piece for my online Globe and Mail column about the media environment at UBC. For those of you who are keen to explore for yourselves, here are a few links to get you started:

On Twitter, the student union elections service and the student newspaper maintain accounts.

The elections service is: @AMSElections
The student newspaper is: @Ubyssey (pronounced U-B-C)

The student newspaper website is: www.ubyssey.ca

I find the student newspaper site to be confusing and hard to navigate. Follow their links from Twitter for specific content such as referendum guides, candidate interviews, and endorsements.

Now, you're all going to say - why isn't this happening here. It's a culture problem that you all need to address. The Ubyssey has been forced to compete by an innovative program called Voter Funded Media. VFM is an initative of the student union.

Bascially, anyone (including non-students or people not at UBC) can file to be a registered media outlet and cover the AMS elections. There is a $4000 prize pools which goes to the top media outlets as choosen by students. When students go to vote for president, vice-presidents (who are elected at UBC - not appointed like McMaster), senators, the student newspaper directors (not editors, directors - basically an SRA to supervise the paper) and other elected positions, students are given a ballot to vote for the best coverage of the student union race.

VFM started in 2007. In 2008, there were over a dozen media outlets which registered. Some were really poor, but most were good.

In 2009, a lot of the less serious outlets did not return. This year, there are six outlets covering the election as part of VFM.

(You can link to them from the bottom of this page:http://www2.ams.ubc.ca/index.php/stu..._funded_media/)

This does not count the various student blogs at UBC, or the faculty newspapers which often run special student union election issues.

The VFM outlets were the first (two years ago) to have video interviews with candidates, first to live-blog election debates and vote counting, and the first to use Twitter as part of their coverage.

The student newspaper is better for the competition and the coverage of the AMS year-round is amazing in large part because of VFM.

The Ubessey is an innovative newspaper. They recently integrated Live Blog and Live Webcast on Justintv for the controversy/recall of President/VP External regarding the lawsuit submitted to united nations. Which I thought was very awesome, especially their relative impartiality over what was going on, they only usually tended to provide objective information to students answering questions instead of *cough cough*