A slice of student journalism

By Jeremy Sor

4th-year, Communications and New Media

Jeremy Sor

WHEN I received a call asking if I could share my experience as a student editor with a group of Korean student journalists from Kyung Hee University, I found myself caught in both elation and frustration.

Frustrated, because I had no idea as to how I was going to squeeze the information I have to share into such a short duration.

Having studied in NUS for more than three years, I have never encountered an incident where the bus broke down on campus. That day, however, I found myself doing an uphill run in business attire to the University Hall for the discussion session. Drenched in sweat as I was, it occurred to me that my trot would be a good analogy to describe the uphill task of managing a student-run newspaper in NUS.

I was greeted with such pleasant smiles and warm introductions by the visiting students upon arrival that it felt as if I was the visiting party instead.

More importantly, I saw in their eyes that energetic and enthusiastic gleam which I once possessed when I first started out as a student journalist two years ago.

Student journalists from Kyung Hee University at NUS.

Being a student journalist in NUS with a budding student-run online newspaper like The Campus Observer is not easy. The Campus Observer is an independent online newspaper and thus is not officially registered as a formal student society. This means that student reporters do not receive extrinsic incentives such as co-curricular activity points. They also do not always receive support from their sources because the newspaper is sometimes perceived as being too small and unimportant. In fact, they occasionally have to endure being ridiculed by people for writing for an “unknown” online newspaper.

“Student journalists from The Campus Observer are not sheltered plants in a nursery,” I said. “They are like the resilient grass that endures the beating of the elements. .

Yet, the above constraints ironically helped to filter out the casual writer and retain only the most promising and motivated student journalists who are driven by a burning passion for producing objective, informative and accurate news stories.

“It is an entirely different ball game altogether,” I replied.

During my stint as the Managing Editor of The Campus Observer, I found myself dealing with bigger challenges such as identifying and retaining members, dealing with feedback from readers and newsmakers, overseeing the editorial schedule, running the newsroom and increasing the readership and visibility of the newspaper.

In short, I had to answer to a wider spectrum of stakeholders as compared to a practising student journalist.

Coupled with heavy work and academic commitments, it is understandable why the joyful journalistic gleam in my eye has faded.

“So where do you see your newspaper heading towards in future?” asked Su Hyun, another visiting student reporter.

“Hopefully we will be able to offer broadcast journalism in the form of webcast news anchoring to the campus community in future,” I replied. “That would be really interesting.”

“Ironically, that is also my unspoken regret since I have failed to push the idea through before the expiration of my term.

We soon ran out of time and as we exchanged name cards, handshakes and took a group photo, a final question popped up.

“How much money do you get every month to run your newspaper?” one of them asked me privately.

“With the exception of the server space which is funded out of our own pockets, we do not receive any funding nor spend a single cent running this newspaper,” I said with a sense of pride, leaving her with a mixed look of disbelief and wonderment on her face.

As I reflected on what I have said during the discussion, I realised how much I have taken away from my service to The Campus Observer throughout these two years. I revelled in amazement of how far the collective effort of everyone has brought The Campus Observer from the days where first it started out as a class project by our founding members.

It is high time that I relight the journalistic fire in me and pass on the torch to the new blood bubbling with passion for journalism.