In our internet-absorbed college culture, print media tends to take a backseat. We have to be bombarded by print publications to notice the content displayed on the newsstands around campus.
But for the student publications known as newsmagazines, this daily barrage of print isn’t an option. With a publishing schedule of just a few thousand copies per quarter (as opposed to the Daily Bruin, which publishes ten thousand copies a day), newsmagazines can easily fly under the radar. But they shouldn’t, because they’re some of the best sources of dialogue and diversity this campus has to offer. Without more interest from the student body, they risk disappearing altogether.
Don’t know what a newsmagazine is for? I’ll venture a guess that you’re not the only one, so let me explain. A newsmagazine provides a voice for seven different underrepresented communities at UCLA. Newsmagazines like Al-Talib, which represents the Muslim population, or La Gente de Aztlan, aimed at empowering the Chicano and Native American students on campus, raise issues that relate not only to their respective communities, but to the entire student body as a whole.
Pilar Whitaker is the editor-in-chief of Nommo, a newsmagazine that provides coverage of issues relevant to African American students. She emphasized her determination to create content that applies to the greater UCLA community.
“We want to talk about what’s going on right now in the African American community, what people need to know about,” Whitaker said. “We want to try and find stories that are encouraging and about real people but also that anyone can relate to.”
The bottom line is, it’s easy to pass by the newsmagazines without a second glance. Their limited audiences tend to come largely from within the communities they represent, and even then, these students usually only find out when an issue is being published through specific student groups or friends on the magazine staff. Ironically, it’s not funding that is providing the largest hurdle for these magazines; it’s the fact that much of the UCLA student body doesn’t know they exist.
The recent passage of the PLEDGE referendum, which will provide funds to Student Media, relieved some of the pressure of finding advertisers to finance the newsmagazines, but it is increased awareness that these magazines really need to make them truly successful.
OutWrite newsmagazine, founded in 1979 and formerly called TenPercent, was the very first Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender student publication in the nation, yet in 2006 the publication fell out of circulation. This could prove a common fate for other newsmagazines as well, and while OutWrite began publishing once again just last quarter, newsmagazines are currently walking a fine line between maintaining the staff necessary to create the publications and retaining an audience willing to pick up a copy and read them.
So why are newsmagazines so frequently ignored? With the exception of Al-Talib, all the newsmagazines were founded in the late 1960s or early 1970s, the heyday of student activism and involvement. Maybe we just don’t care enough anymore. But the reality is that these groups still have a story to tell, and even though we may not be the super-activists of our parent’s generation, we still have a responsibility to educate ourselves about alternative viewpoints. That’s been the purpose of newsmagazines since their inception, and that same purpose still holds today.
Malina Tran, the managing editor of Pacific Ties (a newsmagazine which represents the Asian Pacific Islander population), said she recognized the importance of spreading their voice through the publication.
“Each year there’s a whole new group of students who don’t know the rich history of Pacific Ties or the Asian Pacific Islander community,” Tran said. “It’s really important that we get our story out there, but it’s also really important that we increase interest in the magazine and try to recruit more staff.”
So next time you pass a newsstand, keep your eyes peeled for one of these newsmagazines.
Content that is both compelling and entertaining ensures high quality products that convey an entirely unique perspective on campus issues. Look at any of these magazines and you’ll see evidence of hours upon hours of hard work by the relatively small staffs that produce them. Maybe you’ll find you have something to contribute to the dialogue as well ““ they’re always hiring.
E-mail Fitzpatrick at cfitzpatrick@media.ucla.edu. Send general comments to viewpoint@media.ucla.edu