news pitches
news section
allister white – news editor
Hi folks! Welcome to the final news pitch list of vol. 66. What an absolute whirlwind (joy as well)! As always, I’d love to hear from you; be it story tips, claiming a pitch, or pitching a story of your own. Reach out by emailing news@carillonregina.com.
This issue’s pitch list is primarily comprised of Carillon on the move story ideas, and we’d like to see as many articles in that style make it into issue 24. The focus of this final issue’s news section is on student and faculty voices. That’s what makes this institution great, and its greatness worth documenting.
I’ve listed a few new Carillon on the move pitch ideas and kept some older pitches that you’re free to cover while primarily involving student and faculty perspectives. I’d also be happy to have you pitch your own ideas. To claim one of the pitches below or to pitch your own story, email news@carillonregina.com. Article drafts will be due by the end of the day on Saturday, April 6, 2024.
In your email, include your name, length of story (half page: 550-750 words, full page: 950-1,150), and angles you would like to take when you email to claim one of these ideas or to pitch one of your own. If you have an idea and don’t know how to execute it, we would be happy to help network, recommend sources and resources, and aid in the writing process to help you build the strongest story possible.
2024 URSU election
Preliminary results for URSU’s 2024 election have been made public here: https://ursu.ca/about-ursu/ursu-elections/ursu-2024-election/
Questions to ask students/faculty for an article might include:
Is URSU representative of the student body?
Did you vote?
Which factors influenced your voting?
Were there any barriers to voting that should be addressed?
Is there anything else you’d like to mention about the election?
Have you ever thought about running? Why or why not?
You may also want to ask students about their thoughts on URSU in general with prompts like:
How useful do you find the students’ union?
How much do you know about what the union does?
How much do you engage with or otherwise take advantage of what the union offers?
How much trust do you place in the union?
Another approach would be to ask students what they think a student’s unions should be for, then compare and contrast that opinion against the services that URSU offers.
Carillon on the move articles: a quick guide
To cover a Carillon on the move pitch, you’ll be speaking to people on campus. High-traffic areas like Riddell Centre, the Ad-Hum pit, and Archer Library may be great starting points. It’s not as scary as it seems!
There are a few things you’ll need to remember before beginning the interviewing process:
- Speak to at least three students
- Ask for verbal consent before recording the audio (which you’ll need to transcribe later!)
- Confirm name, pronouns, and any information, positions, or titles that need to be included as well. It’s helpful to have people write the spelling of their name, or spell it out loud for you to confirm and avoid printing a misspelled name.
CRLN writing guides can be found under the “contribute” section on our webpage, however, here’s a snippet from the article styles guide that may help you structure your article, if you choose to do so in a Q&A style:
“Q&A articles work with structured or semi-structured interviews and are essentially laid out like a dialogue. You’ll write an introductory paragraph talking about who you interviewed, making sure to explain why your specific interviewee(s) can speak credibly on the topic (why you chose them specifically), then copy and paste the cleaned transcript below. The questions you asked through the interview should be bolded, written out just as you asked them, while the responses will be written unbolded with a line break between paragraphs (other article styles do not use line breaks between paragraphs). You don’t need to put quotation marks around the responses; it’ll be assumed from then on that bolded text is you speaking, unbolded is your interview source. You will have the option to conclude your article with a final quote from them, or a short summary of the topic, interview, and takeaway.”
Getting ready for graduation? More like trying to survive the Hunger Games of course selection…
As the U of R begins to offer full-year course registration, it’s the perfect time to ask students about course selections and getting the classes they need to graduate.
How easy or difficult has it been for students to get the courses they need to graduate from their programs of study? Does it seem like the required courses are offered consistently enough that things are fair, or are students having to go begging to instructors to have what they require offered? If it’s been difficult to get the required courses, how would students recommend that the university work around this to make sure they’re providing what they charge students for? Would current students recommend their current program of study to incoming students or not, and why?
What are we missing?
This issue is the perfect opportunity to speak with people and ask them what is happening at the U of R that nobody’s talking about.
Maybe they haven’t heard of the Carillon. Maybe they didn’t think to send in a story tip – that doesn’t mean there’s no story there! What do students think their students’ newspaper should be focused on covering?
Follow-up questions would depend greatly on the initial response, but for this pitch especially, it would be pertinent to grab contact information from your interviewees in case more information is needed while you’re working on putting the article together.
Renting in Regina: bloodbath, bloodsport, or just plain bad?
A large chunk of the U of R’s student body is from outside of Regina, or rents in the city. Other folks live in the dorms.
How has the rental environment shifted for students over the past few years? Ask students how long they’ve been renting for, any changes they’ve noticed, how easy or difficult it has been for them to find and keep a place, what sorts of problems they’ve had with landlords or roommates in their time as renters, and what they think of Regina’s rental prices.
If you’re chatting with someone who lives on campus, you might want to ask similar questions – is dorm life all it’s purported by the university to be? How do dorm inspections work? Is it worth the money?
Don’t forget to chat about pest control! Has anyone had issues with that? How quickly and effectively did the landlord treat the problem?
Phone in Friday: Families and students support STF with call-in initiative
Amidst strikes and sanctions by teachers asking for the government to address classroom sizes and complexities, Nicole Berg and her six-year-old daughter founded “Families with STF.” The initiative led a collective call-in to both Scott Moe and Jeremy Cockrill’s offices on Friday, Mar 14 and again on Mar 22. The Mar 14 call-in had 44 participants. It would be very interesting to know how the movement has grown over the past week. Nicole Berg is available for interview, so a really brilliant feature piece could come of this!
To do a Carillon on the Move piece with this article, you could speak with students about academic appointments getting cut and the ongoing faculty contract negotiations. Inquire as to whether or not Berg’s approach could be effective in helping students negotiate lower tuition or better use of our tuition $$$$$$
Carillon on the move (some more ideas)
Carillon on the move is a series for the students, about the students. It gives the opportunity to students to voice their opinions about what’s happening on campus. For example, some ideas for interview topics to ask students on could be: what are your thoughts on all that business with Chartwells? What are you looking forward to the most about exam season? Is there anything at all to look forward to? Are students planning any responsive action if university administration yet again raises tuition? Where’s the hottest study spot on campus right now, and why?
You must speak to three or more students to complete the article. Make sure to ask for their full name, pronouns, program of study, and year of study in their program.