Writing for University Publications
An alumni magazine editor discusses some problems surrounding university commnications. Many times, he feels like he’s publishing stories to make a donor happy, to please a faculty member, or because of institutional politics.
He writes: “…just once, I’d like to hear someone say we ought to do a story because the readers will like it—because it will delight, entertain, provoke, make them think, spur them to action. If the story also inspires an alumnus to donate or it pleases a faculty member, that’s great too and part of what we should do.”
It seems like publications outside of academia have to deal with similar issues. I’ve heard many news librarians talk about their news organizations choosing not to cover certain news because it won’t sell, reporting certain events because it will please the mayor, or taking similar steps to deal with the politics of journalism without always focusing on what the readers will like.
Part of the challenge of some university publications is that there seems to be an expectancy that the publication must always be nice and please everyone. Commercial publications might not have to worry about some of these issues as much because they aren’t necessarily tied to the institution(s) they cover as university publications are.
(The above link goes to a publication that recently moved to a restricted site. People with a Harvard ID and PIN should be able to login to read it. The publication does not seem to have an archive, so the link may expire when the April issue of the publication goes online.)
