Beside offering criticism, another responsibility of the public editor is to act as a liaison to readers and to explain how the paper operates. Transparency is important to ethical journalism, so nothing about The Daily should be secretive. Below I will answer four questions from readers about the paper’s operations.
Who owns The Daily, and what is its affiliation with Northwestern?
Students Publishing Company owns the paper and the school yearbook, Syllabus. The company is a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization independent of Northwestern. The university and Medill do not sponsor, fund or approve the paper. ASG does not recognize it as an official student group.
For its office space, SPC donated $50,000 to Norris University Center when it was built in the early 1970s.
Because The Daily devotes much of its coverage to the university and student groups, it tries to remain independent to avoid a conflict of interest or the appearance of bias.
Despite SPC’s independence, Charles Whitaker, a Medill magazine professor, chairs the organization’s board, which consists of three faculty members, one alumnus and three students. The university president appoints the board chairperson. Whitaker’s position is as close as the university and this publication come to being affiliated.
Whitaker and the board hire The Daily’s editor in chief as well as four full-time, non-student staff, who handle general operations and business-related tasks.
? What is The Daily’s operating budget and circulation?
The operating budget, excluding The Summer Northwestern, is about $494,000 this academic year. SPC employee Ken Kendzy said about 97 percent of revenue comes from advertising. The paper’s circulation is 7,500, including about 280 paying subscribers.
? How much time do students spend at The Daily and how are they compensated?
Editor in chief Ryan Wenzel estimated that he and the managing editor, Heather Gross, work 40 to 45 hours weekly. They arrive at the offices around 4 p.m. and stay until 2 a.m., Wenzel said, and they each work four days per week. The design editor, Diamond James, works nearly as long. These editors often take only three classes. Difficult courses that require significant out-of-class work are usually out of the question.
The campus and city editors work 25 to 30 hours weekly, Wenzel said. Their time commitment depends on the quantity and quality of the articles they receive. Dedicated reporters can work 10 to 15 hours per week, but most work about six, Wenzel said.
Staff members who work at least two days per week are paid a small stipend, Gross said. This quarter, about 75 students are paid, but usually more than 100 students are on the editorial staff’s payroll.
? How does dailynorthwestern.com work?
College Publisher, a popular, free Web hosting company for college newspapers, manages the Web site’s coding and provides The Daily’s e-mail addresses. College Publisher currently puts all ads on the site and keeps the revenue.
Every night, The Daily’s online staff uses College Publisher’s content management system to upload articles to the site. The online staff works two to three hours nightly, starting at about 12 a.m.
As for the redesign that occurred last Friday, College Publisher did all the coding after receiving a preliminary layout from the online staff. Wenzel said the new site has flaws that will be worked out soon.
Public editor David Spett serves as the readers’ representative. His opinions and conclusions are his own. He can be reached at [email protected].
