Observer Thrash

JIM71

Is anyone else tired of the rubbish we get for student newspapers? Why is the level of journalism so poor?

Both papers are pretty poor but find that people who write for the Observer seem to act like it's as important as the Irish Times. If I'm not mistaken I think there was a front page article earlier in the year in aforementioned paper about how Coke was still sold in certain parts on campus.

I don't want the paper to go away altogether but for 50,000 a year we should be getting better than this.

Any thoughts on the UCD media

Davidius

I didn't think anybody even read it.

TimeToShine

All a load of rhubbish.

Tea-a-Maria

Korvanica

TimeToShine wrote: »

All a load of rhubbish.

I chompletly ahgree....

Rosita

JIM71 wrote: »

If I'm not mistaken I think there was a front page article earlier in the year in aforementioned paper about how Coke was still sold in certain parts on campus.

Maybe the prominence of such a story shows just that the UCD campus is not exactly Lybia in terms of action?

The idea that a group of 20k people living in each other's pockets doing the same thing for a few hours a day in an place just a few square miles in area is going to generate a multitude of exciting ever-developing news stories is not on really.

It is also true to say that college undergraduates often tend to have more opinions than you can shake a stick at but don't really have the journalistic experience/skills or news sense or perspective to match. Inevitably you'll get quite raw journalism in such publications.

I think given that they will tend not to have journalistic training the writing is not too bad at all. And presumably the content, while it might seem frivilous to an outsider, is at some level relevant to the readership which is, after all, always a newspaper's own self-check.

These college papers are often criticised but it is not so clear what the alternative content should be - and I mean week on week every week; it's easy to suggest the hard-hitting interview or single story/exposé 'that really matters to people'.

liamygunner29

I personally believe the tribune had a great year

RandolphEsq

I'd love to see a 'Legal Matters' equivalent to The Irish Times in the college papers with issues relevant to legal modules students are studying.

Killer Pigeon

It's not that bad I guess, although there's a lot of Union propaganda in it. If I've nothing better to read while I'm having my coffee then I'd read the Observer.

keepkeyyellow

http://www.universityobserver.ie/2010/10/19/cigarette-company-conduct-surveys-outside-student-bar/
Cigarette companies survey students outside student bar

http://www.universityobserver.ie/2011/03/10/students-admit-cheating-to-secure-a-grades/
Students to admit cheating to achieve high grades

Two fantastic front page stories that no one ever seems to mention, it was a slow news week with the coke story. And I'm just tired of defending the paper, if you don't want to read it then don't.

parker kent

keepkeyyellow wrote: »

Two fantastic front page stories that no one ever seems to mention, it was a slow news week with the coke story. And I'm just tired of defending the paper, if you don't want to read it then don't.

The same tired, ill-informed nonsense is always produced by first years who think they are the first people ever to have such an ill-informed opinion.

gamgsam

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PBE7RGZ3Sjo

Thought you were talking about observer, the ****ty thrash band

LUPE

By and large it's pretty readable I think, better than most tabloids, Daily Mail included

gypsy_rose

Have to say, I always enjoy reading the Observer, they come up with original topics, get good interviews and it rarely fails to make me laugh. I really don't understand what people expect from a student newspaper, I hear criticism but no suggestions of how to improve it.

parker kent

gypsy_rose wrote: »

Have to say, I always enjoy reading the Observer, they come up with original topics, get good interviews and it rarely fails to make me laugh. I really don't understand what people expect from a student newspaper, I hear criticism but no suggestions of how to improve it.

Like I always say, if people want to improve it, start submitting articles.

WeeBushy

LUPE wrote: »

By and large it's pretty readable I think, better than most tabloids, Daily Mail included

+1 on that

Its better quality in terms of writing and production that a lot of regional and national newspapers out there. And they are run by professionals whose full time job it is to produce the papers.

Overature

yeah i quite like it, they do have some interesting articles considering there is not much going on around campus. it would be better if it was emailed around instead of wasting all that paper

WeeBushy

Overature wrote: »

yeah i quite like it, they do have some interesting articles considering there is not much going on around campus. it would be better if it was emailed around instead of wasting all that paper

I quite like having a college paper while eating lunch.

Raphael

Same, I occasionally read the papers because they're there. If they were emailed, I'd never read them.

Also, I couldn't use them as firelighters and temporary umbrellas.

RandolphEsq

Raphael wrote: »

Same, I occasionally read the papers because they're there. If they were emailed, I'd never read them.

Also, I couldn't use them as firelighters and temporary umbrellas.

Yeah I'm not sure what the percentage is of people who actually read for a prolonged period from a computer but I absolutely hate it. I'd rather print an article to read then read it online. It hurts the eyes to concentrate on reading words for a prolonged period.

The Observer is grand; I enjoy picking up any bit of reading material when I have a coffee in the morning (and no one else is in yet to go on a break with!), I would even read a Woodies catalogue such is my apathy when it comes to reading something, anything with my morning coffee. But the Observer is definitely up there with publications I would read (on campus) if I had a choice, and that includes the daily newspapers for sale in the shops (I'd prefer it to the mail, the sun and the financial times (yawn, only nutjobs buy that in a college, or else those using it as a fashion accessory)).

TheVoodoo

Anytime i see one, i'd pick it up and have a read. TBH if it came to me via email, i'd delete it most likely, along with MB's competitions...

parker kent

The email suggestion ignores that it already is online. How many people read it that way?

http://www.universityobserver.ie/

Edit: On a sidenote, why is there an article on 12 April 2011 talking about how The Wire will grow on you? It has long since become a cultural phenomenon! through boxsets and BBC re-airing the entire series.