"The Voice" has been silenced on North Georgia College and State
University campus.
As the 2006-2007 school year drew to a close, the school newspaper
quietly folded as students appeared to grow increasingly fed up with
a lack of quality and timeliness in the publication.
"People were complaining on spending their
student fees on something that they were embarrassed of," said
Director of Activities Wesley Thomas.
As a result the once weekly student publication will publish no more
due a lack of funding by the Student Government Association.
"This didn't come without warning," said Assistant Dean of Students
Laura Whitaker-Lea.
"For the last three of four years there have been many complaints
among the students regarding the quality of the paper," concurred
Thomas.
In fact the small paper had gained a
reputation for printing yesterday's news filled with typos and
filler. Or even a lack of filler.
"There was a lot of white space toward the end," said Whitaker-Lea.
While the paper was intended to printed on a weekly basis no more
than seven editions hit on-campus newsstands last semester as the
staff dwindled.
The paper also failed to generate ad revenue. In fact calls from
advertisers were often left unreturned, said Thomas.
"The student newspaper was supposed to bring in so much in ad
sales," said Whitaker-Lea.
The folding of the campus publication also coincides with the
elimination of the journalism minor from campus curriculum.
With an already limited amount of course credit to entice busy
students, active staff members would have been even harder to
recruit.
"It's really tough to make that commitment," said Thomas.
Whitaker-Lea said she hated to see the paper fold.
"It's been sad," she said. "... I think a student newspaper is
always great. But it has to be a student newspaper that the students
really buy into and enjoy and treasure."
Still, Thomas expressed optimism that "The Voice" could be found
again. After all, in his more than 30 years on the job, he's seen it
happen before.
""The paper has died several times and generally come back very
strong," he said. "The problem is it hasn't stayed very strong."
