a PhD in biology. He grew the section from his cartoon and one other into as many as 15. No other college paper in the state—maybe the country—has that many original cartoons. Tere’s no Garfield or Dilbert. It’s all original and sometimes really quirky, idiosyncratic, strange, far out, and challenging. It’s a good section and really well read. Te great thing about our staff is diverse demographics. Te


editor-in-chief plays violin. Te opinions editor is a master’s degree student and former Marine who worked on a number of political campaigns. Te life section editor has a certificate in culinary arts from Le Cordon Bleu. An international student from Saudi Arabia shoots sports and has turned in some phenomenal photos. And so on. Tey bring different world views, skills and talents other than they worked on their high school paper.


Eastern: Is it hard to encourage students to purse careers in a business where newspapers are folding and layoffs seem never-ending?


Devine: We come out on Mondays and Tursdays now. Tat reflects the times. We’ve had a website since 1996. Te web is an integrated part of what we do. Content is added all day and all night long, and it’s done remotely. Te staff can put up a score and a photo right away, then write a full story. Like most papers it’s web first and print later.


Eastern: Te Echo has made a few headlines itself. A few months ago, it was an old 2009 headline, “Republicans turned off by the size of Obama’s package.” Why is that?


“Community journalism and the


smaller newspapers still have their


bread and buter of high school sports,


Devine: Community journalism and the smaller newspapers still have their bread and buter of high school sports, obits, local business, school news and city council. Tat’s still important and not found on Google news or CNN. Tere’s still a market for journalists. When our students complain they’ll never find a job, I tell


obits, local business, school news and city council. Tat’s still important and not found on Google news or CNN.”


Devine: It keeps recurring. Somebody posts it on Facebook and it’s back on CNN or Huffington Post. Every 6-8 months it makes another blitz because so many news sites are just aggregating. It was a serious article by a non-traditional student; he wrote it as an opinion column and the puns throughout it were even more audacious. It’s all one big pun and some were really offended or found it hilarious. It was well researched. Te staff had argued about the story and decided to go with it. You put in your due diligence and you live with the consequences.


Eastern: What was the consequence for the


cartoon with the couple wearing white hoods romanticizing about the tree where they met as a noose hung from a branch? I know the cartoonist was pointing out the hypocrisy of hate- filled people.


them to go to journalismjobs.com and they see some that are entry level or for a circulation manger in a small town in the Tumb. Jobs are out there. I tell them to look at job descriptions and see what employers want—someone who knows page design, Photoshop, how to write on deadline and edit video. We have Flip video cameras and students use their own equipment to shoot interviews, press conferences, photo essays, music promos. It’s great training. I encourage them to learn to do as much as they can.


Eastern: A lot of alumni remember the Echo coming out in print on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. How have things changed?


Devine: Te editor wrote a clarification along the lines that he understood people were offended and that wasn’t the intention at all. People have the right to express opinions and any readers who disagree can feel free to express theirs. Yes, it was horrible imagery and not a tasteful topic for humor but at the same time the Echo stands by free expression of ideas. Tey had the right to run it. It was the cartoonist’s opinion and you don’t have to apologize for an opinion. Te creator agreed it was in bad taste and there was no news context. Te KKK wasn’t in the news. Tere was nothing to hang it on, so to speak, nothing germane. It was just out there. It sparked a lot of great dialogue. 3


Eastern | WINTER 2012 15


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