College journalism nerd wars
Friday, Sep. 28, 2007 @ 10:56 pm
You’re welcome, Rebel Yell.
Your coverage of the Battle for the Fremont Cannon the last three years has either ripped off one of my columns or stolen our reporting, so I’m glad The Nevada Sagebrush, the student newspaper at The University of Nevada – the state’s official land-grant institution – has been able to provide you with the means to produce content.
Hey, real journalism is hard.
After reading the article titled From the horse’s ass – or something like that – here are a few tips.
First off, we’re not the only ones that refer to this institution as Nevada. Go ahead and check ESPN, CBS and Sports Illustrated if you’d like some clarification.
But I understand. Accuracy isn’t part of pretend journalism.
You talk about Randall Cunningham being a candidate for the Hall of Fame, but the Wolf Pack already has someone in the HOF (not to mention coach Chris Ault’s place in the College Football Hall of Fame). Apparently you forgot to do any sort of research before you anointed Jeff Rowe as Nevada’s greatest football product. Marion Motley had a Hall of Fame career for the Cleveland Browns and helped break the color barrier in the NFL.
But that oversight isn’t really your fault either, there’s no reason for a student at Nevada Southern Commuter College to understand that some institutions actually have tradition and history that dates back further than a generation.
UNLV does have the higher GPA. But Nevada professors get more grant money, the university has higher entry requirements and the incoming students have higher high school GPAs.
What’s that mean? UNLV doesn’t have better students, just easier classes.
No biggy though, I wouldn’t expect critical thinking to a big part of the academic goals of an institution that believes Jerry Tarkanian ran a clean basketball program.
If you really want to compare the two schools, how about we take a look at an aspect that isn’t analyzed every year. It’s time to turn to the student newspapers – The Nevada Sagebrush and The Rebel Yell.
Sagebrush alums are working at The Oregonian, The Washington Post, and USA Today.
Where are the Yell’s alumns?
Oh that’s right, they’re manning the complimentary breakfast buffet at the local Holiday Inn (gotta love that hotel management program).
The Nevada Sagebrush has Pulitzer Prize winners among its alumni. Has the Yell won any awards? At all?
Oh yeah, there’s that illustrious Society of Professional Journalists award you nabbed a couple years ago.
Of course, The Nevada Sagebrush joined SPJ last year just to beat the Yell head to head for that award, which we did.
So, Mr. Maxson, how about you leave the reporting to your big brothers up North.
Here at The University of Nevada, our journalism degrees actually count for something (besides years of debt from unpaid student loans).
Oh and enjoy a blue Fremont Cannon for another year.
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