Two weeks into classes and the student press is gathering—they are poets, techies, news junkies, writers, artists with a dream. Never mind that the traditional newspaper industry is contracting. It’s all a matter of where you fix your focus.
These students are looking toward opportunity. Attendance at the first two staff meetings has ranged over 25. The press has scheduled 57 articles for the March issues of the Puma Press and Lynx. New classes have filled, and the distribution of enrollment across the classes is heartening:
News Writing—13,
Feature Writing/Magazine Article Writing—23,
Writing for Online Media—13,
Broadcast Writing—14,
News Production and Special Projects—13.
Meanwhile, seasoned students in the program are exploring freelance opportunities in the new marketplace. Lifestyle editor, Sandra Hoopes, is successfully exploring food publishing markets. Copyeditor, Janice Semmel, is writing for the Catholic Sun Times and has recently published with North Central News.
Add to that the cool accomplishment of former web editor, Amanda Jaskuski, who received a unanimous pass on her portfolio from the jury of PVCC’s advisory council in December.
My view? Publishing has never been so exciting.
Word Up 