Press Matters
Many professional journalists got
their start in a post secondary institution, but it wasn't necessarily the
classroom that launched them, it was the newsroom. Greg Pratt is the third Managing
Editor of Nexus News, the Camosun College student newspaper. He says student
media is often not taken seriously but it's important because, "It is one
of the last places you can get news you trust."
Pratt says what makes Nexus stand
out from other student media in Canada is its structure. While editors at other
institutions have a limited amount of time to occupy the chair to allow student
participation, it's Nexus policy to always have a professional in the editor chair
to guide the students, in addition to having a student editor. Pratt t says,
"It keeps and gives that student voice." He says in theory everything
in the paper has to be interesting to students and that "It's important to
have people writing about things they care about." This level of
professional is why Pratt believes Nexus is able to take on subjects that other student
papers won't. He says he is not an employee of the college and because the
paper is not affiliated with the student society and entirely funded by student
fees he likes to think of Nexus as, "A bit of a watchdog for students".
There aren't any subjects they
won't write about but Pratt says, "The one thing we don't do, we don't
create controversy where there is no controversy.", and they try to keep
opinion out. He says, "We're not on anyone's side, this is news, and
newspapers need to deliver unbiased opinions on things." He said it's important to present both sides
in a fair and accurate way and give readers a chance to make their own
decisions.
Pratt says, "As a journalist
you don't want to be biased, you want to give people a chance to talk and
explain themselves, don't lambaste them, journalism is about being fair."
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