College Students Among Leaders in Coronavirus Reporting

Student reporters have been on the frontlines of COVID-19 news coverage¹ at their universities.

This year, many of them broke stories about the spread of the new coronavirus on school grounds. They also brought attention to how university leaders dealt with the pandemic.

Many students working for college newspapers have had to work in virtual² newsrooms. And they have struggled to build relationships with their virtual teams.

Student newspapers provide an inside look at how students are dealing³ with the pandemic.

Eli Hoff is managing editor for the University of Missouri's The Maneater newspaper. In the fall, he explained that student papers are more likely to have a connection to students than school officials or town newspapers do.

"We know of student hospitalizations that the university doesn't because they have to be self-reported to the university," he said.

And, Hoff noted⁴, student reporters feel more responsible to report that kind of information "just because we have access to it."

Matt Cohen is a former sports reporter for the Indiana Daily Student at Indiana University in Bloomington. He began reporting about other subjects when most college sports were canceled.

"Being stuck on Zoom⁵ is hard," said Cohen about using online video communications. It has been difficult "trying to really be in depth in your reporting when you can't be there."

News reporting was not meant to be done virtually⁶, he added.

An insider and outsider

Writing about one's fellow students can be difficult for student reporters.

Cohen said fraternity and sorority students at his school "never want to talk to me or the media, because we always make them look bad. And they're not wrong. That's true."

But, he said, they were also doing "stupid" things like having "parties of 100 people in the middle of a pandemic." There is not really a way to make that look good, he noted.

Cohen said some of these groups criticized⁷ him when he wrote about the suspension⁸ of students after football game celebrations.

There was even a meme made about him.

The sports and popular culture website IU Barstool published a meme on Twitter making fun of Cohen. He said he took it in good humor⁹.

The COVID frontlines

Collegiate reporters have also been the watchers of their university's reaction to the coronavirus crisis¹⁰.

Maxwell Mayleben is editor in chief for The Reporter at Minnesota State University at Mankato. His paper found that 60 percent of students do not know how to report their own coronavirus cases to the school.

"So, our numbers look really good, but are they reflecting what it actually is? We're asking those kinds of questions," Mayleben said.

His newspaper also wrote an opinion piece in 2020 about "what we want to see from the university and what students should expect" from it.

Challenging institutions

At the University of Missouri System, President Mun Choi blocked students on Twitter at the beginning of the autumn term. He was reacting to criticism¹¹ following his handling of the virus on school grounds. The blocking is of concern because the president's Twitter account is used to send public information "and in a pandemic that's extra important," said Hoff.

Schools filed what is called a sunshine request to gain access. By morning, Choi had unblocked everyone. Hoff said it was great to see and they were proud that they were able to legally prove it was a public account.

His newspaper has also done some opinion pieces that strongly criticized university decision-makers. At the start of the fall term, for example, the newspaper called for the resignation¹² of a top university official.

Megan Mittelhammer is news editor for The Red & Black, an independent student newspaper serving the University of Georgia, or UGA. She said accountability was the most important issue to the publication¹³ during the fall term.

Before the start of the semester¹⁴, a UGA housing¹⁵ employee died of COVID-19. But, Mittelhammer said the university refused to give the name of the person or admit that COVID-19 was the cause of death. So the newspaper found out through the local coroner. And a lot of students, professors and employees were clearly unhappy about that, explained Mittelhammer.

UGA said the school's policy prevented it from commenting on the death of an employee, she said.

Mittelhammer said The Red & Black also reported on the dependability of UGA's COVID-19 self-check tool, DawgCheck. Professors, employees and students are required to report a positive COVID-19 test through DawgCheck. But some people do not, she said.

Remaining steady

For most student newspapers, the pandemic has also pushed reporters into a virtual newsroom. This has often delayed production and made it difficult for team members to build relationships.

Mansoor Ahmad is an international student from Pakistan. He is also the photo and web editor for The Reporter at Minnesota State University at Mankato. He said, between his classes and weekly newspaper meetings, he has spent too much time on Zoom.

Maneater's managing editor Hoff said that working virtually has made it hard to build a sense of friendship within the team.

It is hard when the only contact with writers is through Google Drive comments, said Hoff. So he tries to be extra friendly in his written comments to avoid appearing too critical.

Words in This Story

manage –v. to have control of something, to oversee¹⁶ or supervise¹⁷

editor –n. a person whose job it is to prepare written material, to make changes, correct mistakes and improve the final product

access –n. the ability to use or get something

fraternity –n. an organization for male students at a U.S. college or university

sorority –n. an organization for female¹⁸ students at a U.S. college or university

meme –n. a humorous picture that is spread widely through the internet

proud –adj. to be very pleased with what you have done

reflect –v. to think carefully about something

accountability –n. a requirement to explain actions or decisions to someone

coroner –n. a public official who reports on the cause of death of people

positive –adj. to show that presence of something such as a germ that causes disease

1 coverage   

n.报导，保险范围，保险额，范围，覆盖

参考例句：

• There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
• This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。

2 virtual   

adj.实质上的，事实上的，实际上的

参考例句：

• This reply is a virtual acceptance of our offer.这一回答实质上是接受了我们的建议。
• At that time the East India Company was the virtual ruler of Bengal.那时东印度公司是孟加拉的实际统治者。

3 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

4 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

5 zoom   

n.急速上升；v.突然扩大，急速上升

参考例句：

• The airplane's zoom carried it above the clouds.飞机的陡直上升使它飞到云层之上。
• I live near an airport and the zoom of passing planes can be heard night and day.我住在一个飞机场附近，昼夜都能听到飞机飞过的嗡嗡声。

6 virtually   

adv.实际上，事实上

参考例句：

• The job was virtually completed by the end of the week.到周末时这项工作差不多完成了。
• He was virtually a prisoner.他实际上是个囚犯。

7 criticized   

vt.批评(criticize的过去式)v.评论，批评( criticize的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The decision was criticized by environmental groups. 这个决定受到了环保团体的批评。
• The movie has been criticized for apparently legitimizing violence. 这部电影因明显地美化暴力而受到了指责。

8 suspension   

n.悬挂，悬浮液，暂缓，未决，中止

参考例句：

• The local authorities decided to build a suspension bridge over the river.地方当局决定在这条河上建一座吊桥。
• A four-day suspension was imposed on her.她被勒令停职4天。

9 humor   

n.(humour)幽默，诙谐

参考例句：

• He is distinguished for his sense of humor.他以其幽默感著称。
• American humor is founded largely on hyperbole.美式幽默主要以夸张为基础。

10 crisis   

n.危机，危急关头，决定性时刻，关键阶段

参考例句：

• He had proved that he could be relied on in a crisis.他已表明，在紧要关头他是可以信赖的。
• The topic today centers about the crisis in the Middle East.今天课题的中心是中东危机。

11 criticism   

n.批评，批判，指责；评论，评论文章

参考例句：

• Some youth today do not allow any criticism at all.现在有些年轻人根本指责不得。
• It is wrong to turn a deaf ear to other's criticism.对别人的批评充耳不闻是错误的。

12 resignation   

n.放弃，辞职，反抗

参考例句：

• He handed in his resignation right after the cabinet meeting.内阁会议一开完，他就提出了辞呈。
• They asked for his resignation with one voice.他们一致要求他辞职。

13 publication   

n.出版，发行；出版；公布，发表

参考例句：

• They don't think this article is suitable for publication.他们认为这篇文章不宜发表。
• The government has delayed publication of the trade figures.政府已将贸易统计数字延后公布。

14 semester   

n.一学期，半学年，六个月的时间

参考例句：

• A student will probably attend four or five courses during each semester.每个学生一学期可能要修四五门课程。
• I had an especially rough time during my first semester.我第一个学期的日子难受极了。

15 housing   

n.房屋，住宅；住房建筑；外壳，外罩

参考例句：

• Do you think our housing sales will turn around during this year?你认为今年我们的住宅销路会好转吗？
• The housing sales have been turning down since the summer.入夏以来，房屋的销售量日趋减少。

16 oversee   

vt.监督，管理

参考例句：

• Soldiers oversee the food handouts.士兵们看管着救济食品。
• Use a surveyor or architect to oversee and inspect the different stages of the work.请一位房产检视员或建筑师来监督并检查不同阶段的工作。

17 supervise   

v.监督，管理，指导

参考例句：

• We must supervise and speed up the fulfilment of assigned tasks.已经布置了的工作，应当认真督促检查。
• Tomorrow he will supervise all the pupils taking the English examination.明天全体学生考英语，他将担任监考。

18 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。