MCKENNA MORIN; Photo Editor; morinmn@plu.edu
When prospective students choose between colleges that are very similar, they choose the one with the best benefits. Herein lies the issue with recruitment and retention in Pacific Lutheran University’s student media department. It has limited benefits. This needs to change in order to increase the number of students involved within student media.
A few years ago, PLU stopped paying its student journalists completely. Now, there is a sharp and very apparent decline in student media involvement. Fewer students come in the doors at the beginning of the year and even fewer stay.
This school year alone, five students in editor positions quit. Many who left said they would have considered staying if their positions were paid. While the paper has won awards like the College Media Association Apple Award, a statue doesn’t pay the bills. Sophomore Dejan Perez, a former Mast staff member, said she would still be involved today if she could have financially supported herself through her position with the newspaper.
Student media engagement at PLU falls to the bottom of the list when compared to neighboring schools of similar size. The lack of paid positions is to blame. According to Croix Dillingham, the Editor-in-Chief (EIC) of the newspaper at Seattle Pacific University, the editorial staff is paid in a range from $1,750 to $3,700 and also receives upper-level class credit. The EIC receives $6,060 per year.
Some argue that PLU is not in the position to pay students. Even PLU’s newspaper advisor, Lecturer of Communication Heather Meier, said “the school is never going to pay staff again.” Although PLU did compromise by awarding academic credits to the staff, that is not enough.
PLU’s neighbor to the south Lewis and Clark College has a similar newsroom. The EIC at the “Pioneer Log,” Peter Kranitz, said their staff is paid $900 for senior/managerial positions, $600 for section editors and visuals editors. In addition, writers receive 2-3 cents per word per article.
According to tour guides at PLU, the school’s biggest competition is the University of Puget Sound. Casey O’Brien, EIC at UPS’s newspaper “The Trail” said their editors are paid between $1,200 and $1,700 and writers receive $35 per story.
All three editors said paying staff increases overall retention and recruitment because students feel valued. The pay legitimizes the job and it helps students gain experience with financial support. PLU needs to start paying the student media staff before they take their award-winning skills and transfer to somewhere they are truly respected.
