UCLA publications acclaimed for diverse coverage
National report shows multicultural news coverage on rise across
college campuses
By Tatiana Botton
Multiculturalism, diversity and news reporting have been
increasingly merging together on college campuses across the
nation, a recent report found.
While increased coverage of cultural activities has risen on
most college campuses, UCLA has been named one of the leaders in
encouraging diverse reporting, according to the latest study from
the United States Students Association Foundation, the oldest and
largest nationwide student organization.
"We were very surprised, while doing our research, to see all
these multicultural events going on," said Meryl Webster, director
of the foundation’s campus media audit.
During the audit, the foundation contacted 20 colleges and
universities and interviewed the editors-in-chief of each campus
paper and some of their newsmagazines.
"We wanted to cover the United States from California to New
York to everything in between," said Webster, who only contacted
UCLA and Sacramento City College in California. "We chose UCLA
because we knew they had a very diverse campus and also because we
wanted to focus on a campus having alternative newspapers."
UCLA is the perfect community to look at in terms of how the
media covers diversity, agreed Matea Gold, editor in chief of the
Daily Bruin.
"Not only do we have a very large campus, but it is very
diverse," she said, delighted with the recognition of The Bruin.
"It has been exciting to see that our efforts have been
acknowledged by the USA, but we are not even close to doing the
kind of diversifying of our coverage that needs to happen."
The Office of Academic Planning and Budget stated last month
that UCLA has one of the nation’s most diverse student populations.
Its ethnic population continues to rise while the number of
white/Caucasian students is decreasing.
As part of its diversity, UCLA has a daily paper and seven news
magazines that address specific cultural and religious issues.
"UCLA newsmagazines cover points much more precise on certain
subjects than the Daily Bruin, which has a large audience," said
Eric Lynxwiler, editor in chief of TenPercent, the
lesbian/gay/bisexual magazine at UCLA.
Lynxwiler explained the newsmagazine was created in 1979 because
the Daily Bruin was not representing the gay community’s needs.
While admitting that The Bruin covers UCLA well, he said there is
still room for improvement.
"The Daily Bruin is not going to cover our issues because we are
doing the work for them," Lynxwiler said.
In the future, Gold said, The Bruin will place an increased
emphasis on cultural coverage.
"There has been a lack of ongoing coverage of some specific
multicultural issues. It is important for the Daily Bruin to learn
from the newsmagazines and also from other parts of the community.
We are really pushing for every single section of the paper to
integrate some of these aspects."
However, Gold explained it is easier for a reporter to analyze
and discuss a community in which he or she is involved with.
"We cannot really cover the community on campus unless we have a
diversity of perspective in the newsroom  it’s a sort of
Catch-22. We need to do a lot of more efforts on that part," she
acknowledged.
Newsletters can be one of the ways a community can talk about
their own issues with their personal perspective.
The Multicultural Society, a campus group created last quarter,
will write a monthly newsletter allowing people to express
themselves on multicultural issues in one place.
"We need things that bring people together. We need to have our
own group, but in addition to that we need people to interact,"
said David Silver, a founder of the Multicultural Society.
While newsletters allow groups to express their views, others
believe all opinions should be combined into one publication.
"My goal is to show the diverse ideologies on campus, and that
is sometimes difficult because we are a very liberal campus. But
when somebody comes with a conservative point of view, we print
it," explained Michele Keller, editor of The Bruin’s Viewpoint
section.
Webster said the foundation will continue its investigations
into cultural reporting.
"We would like to do a follow up of this report, and this time
interview students to know their opinion on the subject," she
said.