 Baia Dzagnidze, Marie-Josée Ryan, Michal K., Lukas Vallo |
The spring 2012 News Writing class is continuing the tradition of independent
student journalism at UNYP by reviving the latest student publication, UNYPRESS,
which had a one-semester run in spring 2011.
Compared to the previous edition of UNYPRESS, which was a one-time
publication, this semester’s class is planning on publishing monthly, with
periodic updates in between. The new edition will continue its predecessor’s
global approach, covering events, trends and issues both in and outside of UNYP.
The new stuff of UNYPRESS consists mostly of students majoring in
Communications and Mass Media. But two of our group members are from different
majors, which gives us the opportunity to cover a variety of topics from
different perspectives.
In the university’s 13-year existence, a number of student newspapers have
come and gone. An early print effort, University Press, had an ambitious but
short run. An online paper, The Crock, ran for several semesters during 2002 and
2003.
In the spring of 2004, UNYQUE debuted. The following semester, the newspaper
was formally established as a joint venture between UNYP and The Prague Post,
where instructor Frank Kuznik was culture and features editor. Thanks to strong
support from UNYP Academic Dean Barbara Adams and Prague Post General Manager
Eva Anderová, the two institutions agreed to share the costs of producing and
distributing the paper.
Best of all, the agreement called for UNYQUE to be inserted in every copy of
the Post. That boosted UNYQUE’s circulation from 1,000 to 13,500, and gave
student journalists an international audience, as the Post is distributed on
every Czech Airlines flight in and out of Prague. (For more on that agreement,
see here.)
But it didn’t last. Both Adams and Anderová moved on, and after the spring
2006 semester, the UNYP administration abruptly canceled funding for UNYQUE.
Kuznik managed to revive the paper with private sponsorship in the spring of
2007, but student interest and involvement were never the same. After a very low
turnout for News Reporting in the fall of 2008, the class (which had written and
produced the paper) was dropped and UNYQUE died.
We hope you enjoy our revived publication. We welcome your comments and
questions at unypress@ymail.com Or find us on Facebook here
Hey, since you mentioned all the older newspaper, why would you let out the current one? Other than that, it was nice to read about the school's old newspapers. Very informative.
ReplyDeleteThank you for your comment! Feedback is always more than welcome!
ReplyDeleteRegarding your question, it is very simple: things are different now and based on the experience from the past, we are trying to create awareness and willingness in students to help keep this alive even after the news writing class finishes at the end of the semester.