A handful of Northwestern seniors are helming the premiere issue of NUviews, a new campus publication, in an attempt to delve into key issues – think politics, science and ethics – and their implications in collegiate life. PLAY sat down with Medill senior and former Daily design editor Wes Meltzer, who is designing the publication, to learn more about the importance of in-depth current events coverage in college publications.
PLAY: How did the concept for NUviews come about?
Wes Meltzer: Weinberg senior Andy Nelson (a former daily staffer) approached me about the magazine during Winter Quarter last year. He said, “You know, nobody on campus covers speakers or politics or anything idea-related except as an event story. ‘This is what he said and this is what he did.'” And I agreed with him emphatically. One of the problems on campus with this kind of stuff is that there’s no depth or critical dimension. We really want to do that. Andy came up with the idea on his own and approached Medill senior Scott Gordon (a current Daily staffer) first. He approached me to be art director with the understanding that I would also have a hand in editorial content.
PLAY: What does the staff envision in terms of purpose and content?
WM: We will have several pillars for the magazine. The most important is probably going to end up being critical coverage of campus speakers. But we also intend to cover books, and we’ll have a section with essays by students. We’re also going to have a short selection of news items. And it’ll be fun. As far as the purpose is concerned, I think the key is our motto, which is “Ideas are news.” We just don’t think anybody has that dimension on campus.
PLAY: How is NUviews different from current student publications?
WM: We have a longer perspective than a newspaper – even a weekly. We can be critical and less tied-down to specific events.
PLAY: So do you see NUviwes as filling a gap in coverage on campus?
WM: One of our goals is to cover speakers that nobody else is covering. If I had covered George Stephanopoulos … we’d want to take a critical consideration of his career; we’d want to probe deeper – we don’t want the story to be just about the speech. Then it’s already old news by the time the issue hits the stands. As far as other publications are concerned, we don’t think any of the other campus magazines are even interested in specifically intellectual campus events.
PLAY: Have you heard any negative feedback from people at campus publications?
WM: Newspapers in general know their limitations. They can’t just sit back and observe the news happening. It’s easy at a newspaper to get caught up in what’s happeneing every day and not really see the forest for the trees. I don’t think a magazine has that problem. But no magazine is ever going to be a direct competitor to a newspaper, either. So I haven’t heard any negative feedback.
PLAY: What are you looking for in potential staff members?
WM: We’re looking for people who aren’t idiots. We’re looking for people who are interested in ideas or politics or books or science or just writing in general. We need writers, copy editors, designers, photographers and illustrators. And the key is to be interested and to be passionate.
PLAY: When will the first issue come out?
WM: Assuming all goes according to plan, we drop Nov. 15. After that, we hope to come out bi-quarterly.
The NUviews staff will hold an information and recruitment meeting today at 7 p.m. in Swift Hall, Room 107.
– Kim Jeffries
