Student Blogs Challenge College Papers

The Chronicle of Higher Education, a newspaper targeting college students and professors, contained an article Sunday that caught my attention. It was about how student blogs are challenging college newspapers across the country. (Read the article by here.) In the article they targeted two major student run blogs. "Onward State" of Penn State (which I have used as a model, although it is much more professional with a full staff) and "NYU Local" of NYU. I'm not surprised that I wasn't asked to be interviewed, not be because this blog isn't legit, but our school paper, TNH, knew they couldn't compete with me so they bribed me to write for them in exchange for my one true vice: milk and cookies. (Just kidding. The TNH staff makes up about 75% of my readers, the other 25% is my mom.) This article focused on how there is a competition between blogs and newspapers, but it argues that most blogs don't survive after the founder's graduation. This is something I have actually been thinking about lately, which is why I was hoping to add a few writers to the staff. What if The University of Nonsensical Happenings could survive ANH? (After New Hampshirite.) That is probably just an unrealistic dream, I'm really just hoping to keep this going until I graduate.
Newspapers will always be the older brother to blogs. (Actually more like a grandfather, cause they're they only people who still read 'em, boom roasted!) Seriously though, newspapers are more sophisticated and reliable, but blogs have the ability to break a news story as it happen.  Blogs can provide constant updates with multimedia  24/7, while newspapers run on a predetermined schedule. What that means is that newspapers and blogs need each other. If it is done correctly (and I feel TNH and I nailed it) student blogs and newspapers can become a symbiotic relationship. I get free advertising, a bigger audience, and slightly more credibility and they get an extra half hour of editing. (Really though, hopefully a strong a opinion with a little humor.) While technically my blog is unaffiliated with TNH, I have the rare opportunity to write for two separate publications (I have to hit "publish post" so I consider this blog a publication), two different types of media and for two different audiences.
Blogs may not be as professional as newspapers, for example, my blog editor is that little read line that pops up when you spell a word wrong, and blogger don't got green lines for grammars mistake. Also, I never name my sources (although I rarely use them), and I discuss (and highly encourage) the use of certain substances in ways that even the most liberal newspapers can't. Newspapers get the glamour and attention by providing actual news and in-depth articles (and for when they get negative attention I get the chance to defend them like when those filthy immature pricks threw away a bunch of the papers.) I also tend to ramble and end a post abruptly with a bullshit  statement that makes the reader think I was actually trying to prove a point throughout a post. You see people, we can't let our country be divided by newspapers and blogs, because if we do then segregation is still a huge part of our society. And that is what is ruining America!

Stay classy, not UMassy.