Journalism has developed a bad reputation these days.
Publications are in debt and losing money, newspaper reporters are getting laid off or put on furlough, some people are going so far as to say that journalists are useless.
A study by the Pew Research Center published in July showed that 27 percent of Americans believe journalists contribute nothing or very little to society. The same research found that the public feels mutually about lawyers and artists.
But would you really rather live in a world without freedom of representation, expression and press?
It has been said that journalists are a dying breed, but we argue otherwise, we are an adaptive breed.
Where before news was solely distributed in hard copy, now it can be delivered instantaneously in a tweet. News is now more than a talking head on TV, it’s an interactive experience for those who seek it out online.
Journalism is not dead, it’s evolving, and The Prospector is evolving with it.
This year, we bid farewell to The Prospector and welcome The Prospector Daily.
With countless meetings in the spring and summer semesters, it was finally decided that the face of the student newspaper would change along with the rest of the campus.
Although we celebrate our 100th birthday in 2015, the staff has decided to change in time for the centennial celebration.
Before we published two newspapers a week with some activity online. Now we will work to produce daily content on our new website, theprospectordaily.com, which will include countless bits of multimedia extras.
UTEP is overseeing a dramatic transformation, trying to be a leader in the rapid national change of demographics and cater to a majority Hispanic community with a 25 percent poverty rate. All the while, students are facing a poor job market, rising student costs and an increasingly partisan Congress that affects our lives in more ways than it may seem.
Despite every change, The Prospector is and always will be the assayer of student opinion. Everything we report is for the betterment of the student population.
Sometimes that makes us unpopular amongst officials, but it is our job to inform you.
Our new website will feature a calendar of events which will be updated daily, crime logs from UTEP Police, student opinions around campus, scores from every UTEP game and much more.
Our staff is made up of students with diverse experience at different publications. Some have interned as reporters outside of the Prospector, such as the Scripps Howard Foundation Wire in Washington, D.C., the Sacramento Bee in Sacramento, Calif. and local publications like The Art Avenue. Photographers at the Prospector have had the opportunity to practice photography abroad.
We are dedicated to delivering award-winning content and are looking forward to an exciting new year with you.
On behalf of The Prospector staff, welcome to the start of a great year.
The editorial staff may be reached at [email protected].
