Getting on the cyber world

While I am assured that at one point news was delivered in person, and later in print, it seems that these days in order for a newspaper to survive it must find its way online. It is in some ways a sad time for those of us who relish the feel of newsprint and who remember a time when crowded newsrooms were the site of whistle-blowing. Indeed, there was a time when the print media worked in tandem with public suspicion to keep society's ills in check, if only for brief periods of time. There was credibility and respect inherent to being a newsman, and every businessman's fingers were kept just a little cleaner because of the newsman's hound dog approach. Now, however, the influx of 'net-based news has made it ever so easy to slip into mainstream consciousness free from the rigours of bias-check. Day after day, millions login to PerezHilton.com or get their daily fix on The Daily Show and while neither claims to represent centrist media opinion, they are legitimated by their followers.

To this end, perhaps now in reflective angst (!), I present you with our website, www.campusfreepress.com, the only destination for news on campus at Nipissing University and Canadore College. It's a work in progress, sure, but it's also our way of telling you that "we get it," -- we understand the difficulty in keeping up with our print stuff. So please bookmark The Campus Free Press and keep us in mind for your news needs, because we keep YOU in mind when writing. It's our hope to discuss the topics which involve you, or which don't involve you and SHOULD. We want to be your outlet for discussion about social life, athletics, accessibility, pop culture and, above all else, academia.

Enjoy!

The New Phase

Being in the newspaper business simply gets more exciting each year of its operation. New faces, new issues and new challenges all appear seemingly out of nowhere, and it's the job of the staff and editors to meet them all head on.

For the next academic year, The Campus Free Press will undergo some changes, and we hope they are all effective in bringing the community closer together. What will these changes entail? Well, here are just a few of the ideas we've got kicking around:

• A formalized style guide will ensure consistency throughout each and every issue!
• We'll be putting together an email newsletter for subscribers with content we couldn't wait to share with you all!
• We'll be hosting events and raising awareness about groups and projects we think are deserving of your time!
• We'll be working hard to make our presence in CUP - that's the Canadian Universities Press - is well known. As members of CUP, we have access to a virtual world of student news from across the country and we aim to share it with you!
• We want to look into bridging our publication to others in the province -- that means we will be working to give you greater access to our peer network!

We truly hope we can serve everybody to the best of our abilities. On that note, if you are interested in writing for The Campus Free Press, well, let us know. We are always interested to learn more about you and your issues. Remember, we exist for the purpose of illuminating the lives of students and other community members at Nipissing University AND Canadore College and we'll do our best to serve you well.