Student Media Culture

  This Wednesday, the administration of the University of Southern California blocked the editor-elect (and current editor) of their student newspaper, The Daily Trojan, from taking office next year. Here’s how it happened. The process usually begins with The Daily Trojan staff electing their next editor. The editor-elect then applies to the Office of Student Affairs for approval. Upon approval, the editor-elect’s application is passed on to the Media Board—an advisory group made up of faculty and students—for its approval. This time, the Office of Student Affairs declined to pass the

  The School of Information at the University of Michigan has created a master's program in social computing, where students will study the implications and technical aspects of social networking sites such as MySpace and Facebook. The Student Assembly at Dartmouth University is working to create an official “Dartmouth Wiki,” which will allow users to post and answer questions, create email lists, and write pages in an official space. The SA has been working on the wiki since last term, though the project was complicated by the launch of an unofficial, “commercial venture” Dartmouth wi

  Hoping to create a forum to ignite political discussion, Brown University students have formed the Political Union. Unlike College Republicans’ and Democrats’ debates, which focus on scoring points to determine winners, the Political Union’s debates will center around fostering questions and discussion. 4/12/07  Read More from Brown University

  The next phase of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) saga has begun, as the deadline for students to accept RIAA settlements for illegal music downloads has passed. Syracuse University’s Daily Orange reports that the RIAA has filed a “John Doe” lawsuit against at least one SU student who failed to accept a $3000 settlement; the suit allows the RIAA to subpoena the name associated with the Internet Protocol (IP) address responsible for downloads. According to the Daily Orange, only 30% of the first 400 students to receive RIAA letters settled by Mar

  A new team is on the trail of the Islamist killers of journalist Daniel Pearl. Called the Pearl Project, the roughly two dozen investigators say they've determined the identities of 15 of the estimated 19 suspects still at large. The enterprising detectives are Georgetown University students taking a class dedicated to tracking down Pearl's murderers from across the globe. Pearl, 38, was kidnapped and later executed in Pakistan in early 2002 while reporting the case of "shoe bomber" Ric

  After nearly a full year of debate and controversy, Colorado State University last week released a formal agreement with the newly autonomous student media group, the Rocky Mountain Student Media Corporation. Student Media, a nonprofit organization independent of the university, will be run by a governing board of five students and four non-students: two university-appointed members and two community members. The agreement details Student Media’s role in relation to the university, and specific guidelines

An article from the University of Oregon details the “neutral observer” program, which trains volunteers to attend potentially controversial events and report what they observe there. Neutral Observer programs began in the 1960s at a number of schools including University of California at Berkeley and the University of Colorado at Boulder. The program has several benefits, most obviously an unbiased view of any conflicts that occur at controversial events. Additionally, neutral observers have been shown to help de-escalate tensions. 5/10/07

  On March 6th Howard University administrators suspended publication of the university's student newspaper, The Hilltop, due to more than $48,000 in outstanding printing costs. According to the newspaper’s student editor, administrators went against protocol and made the decision to halt publication with only a handful of the required 11 voters present. Because of The Hilltop’s historical significance, as the only newspaper of a Historically Black University published daily, students are eager to get the paper back on track.