Think globally, spin locally

While searching for topics for my column, I have asked the Editor In Chief several questions about the content and quality of the newspaper. Many times, when I ask why a particular improvement hasn't been made, I get the response, "We just don't have enough staff for that." Now, this does not mean that the IDS doesn't have enough people to be a good twice-a-week newspaper. It does mean however, that it is lacking enough people to be a truly exceptional summer paper.\nI also asked why there is a lack of national and international news on the front page. His response was that he wanted the front page to be original stories that were relevant to the audience. The IDS is often the students' only source for campus and local stories, and alumni that read the paper online are reading it specifically to keep up on what's new at their alma mater. It takes more resources (i.e. reporters) to put a local spin on a national or international story.\nFor instance, when choosing between the latest piece of IU Student Association gossip and the Pakistani-Indian conflict for the front page, the tendency is to choose IUSA, because an IDS reporter would write the story, and it is of local interest. The Pakistani-Indian story would be taken from Associated Press reports, and therefore not have a local spin. \nIf there were more writers on the world desk they could take that story, talk to professors who are experts in the field, as well as Pakistani and Indian international students, and write a story that reflects how it affects the campus. When asked why there weren't writers doing just that, the Editor In Chief said there simply aren't enough writers.\nSimilarly, if there were more writers, then breaking stories, which are often not reported on due to the twice-a-week nature of the summer paper, could be researched and reported on the Web site, since many alumni and students that are home for the summer get their news from the Web site anyway. If the IDS gets a breaking story on Monday, for example, it would not be reported until Thursday's paper. With more staff, breaking news can be covered and reported on the Web site on Monday, preventing the IDS from being scooped on its own campus.\nWhen the editors of the various desks were asked if they felt that they had enough writers and photographers, the consensus was that there are plenty of writers and photographers to get the job done, but the paper would greatly benefit if they had more. More writers would mean more stories being covered from more angles, which would mean more variety for the readers. Although the current photographers do a good job, more photographers would create even more unique and exciting pictures than there are now. \nThe only desk editor that emphatically stated that she didn't need more people was Kristen Hayes at the design desk, who said, "If I had more designers, there'd be a definite shortage of computers, which would probably make us less efficient." All desks including sports, campus, arts, world and especially region, could use some extra writers. Even the opinion desk is open to guest columnists, although they currently have a full lineup of regular columnists.\nThe obvious solution to this problem would be to hire more writers, and next time I will discuss why there are not more people, especially journalism students, writing for the IDS and how the IDS can attract more writers.