The University Express wants to hear from YOU!
By Editor in Chief Claire Watson
Hello, lovely readers. Well, we made it! The winter holidays are around the bend, and with them come a much-needed chance to rest our weary heads.
On Thursday 23 we will be hosting a focus group. This group is open to all of UCC’s students, to give them the opportunity to have their say in how their voice is represented by the Express. The event will take place at 5pm in the Student Life Meeting Room.
I’ve been firsthand witness to how the Express has changed over the past few years. When I started as the Fashion Editor, I arrived on campus to pick up the first issue. Myself and Chloe, then Gaming Editor, posed with our articles, masks snug against our faces. By the end of the academic year, it was announced to us that the paper was going out of print, and to be published online.
This was a sad change, but I do understand the reasoning. It isn’t sustainable to expect students to pick up and take home a broadsheet paper every two-weeks. Though paper and recyclable, newspapers are designed to be read once and thrown out. Broadsheets are big and can’t easily be folded to fit into a backpack or tote bag without being damaged. I do miss popping around campus and seeing my words on a page between my hands, but I don’t miss lugging the bales of paper across to satellite campuses.
Of course, a happy compromise would’ve been to reduce the printed quantity, and not expect students to take the paper home. I know the paper was mostly read as it was left on tables of the student centre or desks in the library. Editors and contributors would happily take home their copies to share them with their family, but I know that it was most often read on campus.
Last year, we relied on issu to present our paper. This had its pros: the website allows you to flick through the pages to simulate the reading experience, and it’s pretty functional as an archive. But we concluded that the website and its format was inaccessible.
I do think expanding the paper into a digital space is the way forward. When done correctly, it can be much more accessible than a printed copy. We have a greater reach, as our writing is now able to access graduates, students abroad, or those that are simply curious of what UCC has to say. When moving online, we looked to other papers and their websites for inspiration, and I’d realised that I think I’ve only ever read the newspaper online.
This is just an example of one way the Express has changed over my time on it. The paper you see today, as well as the paper you might’ve seen three years ago, are completely different to that first issue. With each new student body, the Express gains a new readership, and new team. No two volumes could ever be the same.
The issue is that students have rarely been involved in this process. I have tried my best to keep students in mind as I’ve implemented my own changes to the paper, such as the publication schedule, but I’m just one person.
That is why it’s the Express’ job to represent. We want our readers to engage with us and tell us how they want it. The paper will always be changing, as are our readers. Come on down to our focus group, and express(wink, wink) yourself.
