We’ve all heard someone say it or perhaps have said it ourselves: journalism is a dying profession. Dwindling print readership and the untamable force of the Internet put the future of the press in jeopardy.

In the digital age, anyone with Internet access and a curious mind can be a journalist. While instant access to knowledge is a valuable and liberating resource, it may also lead to the large scale distribution of false or unsubstantiated information. The role of the reporter has been placed in the hands of the public, making the working journalist seem obsolete.

Universities are on the cusp of this digitized future. The millennial generation makes up the vast majority of student populations across the globe and has been immersed in technology since birth — making universities nerve centres for the quick diffusion of information. It’s no surprise that the student press arose from this ever-changing and growing environment.

But are student-run newspapers still relevant when nearly every university student has access to countless social media platforms, blogs and online sources?

Mick Sweetman, Ontario board representative for the Canadian University Press and a student at George Brown College, believes that student media remains relevant because it’s one of the only areas of media left where independent journalism is able to thrive.

“With the increasing concentration of media ownership in Canada, student papers are really one of the few places where independent journalism is able to exist these days outside of a few really niche publications,” said Sweetman.

The mindset of a university campus could be considered much more liberal than that of the outside world, allowing student newspapers to toe the line and cover sensitive issues that larger news publications may be unable to discuss. With this comes the responsibility to examine the world, its issues and its injustices through a student lens, giving campus newspapers a uniquely powerful voice that cannot be found in major media outlets.

“You can worry about being the by-the-book journalist later on. There’s no shortage of opportunities to do the dull grunt work of journalism,” said Sweetman. “There’s a lot of freedom [in student journalism] to experiment with what you’re doing. People should take advantage of that and not try to make their paper read like it’s the Globe and Mail. Find your own voice for the paper that you think will resonate with your readers on campus.”

However, this responsibility can be overwhelming for young journalists who are just beginning to find their footing in the world of print media.

“It’s important to hold whatever community that you’re in accountable. Larger journalism publications rarely descend on campus unless it’s a really big story, so it becomes the responsibility of the people who are part of that community to tell the community’s story,” said Josh O’Kane, reporter for the Globe and Mail and former Editor-in-Chief at the University of New Brunswick’s weekly paper, the Brunswickan.

Placing relatively inexperienced journalists at the forefront of a bustling and expansive community such as a university campus can unfortunately lead to mistakes. However, these errors are more forgivable when made in smaller scale publications as opposed to papers with national distribution.

“You’re learning to make a publication while you’re putting it together and you feel like you should know more or be more proficient than you are,” said Natalie Serafini, Editor-in-Chief at Douglas College’s student paper the Other Press, in an email to the Sheaf. “It can be incredibly stressful and it means there will inevitably be mistakes. At the same time though, it can be its biggest strength: that opportunity to learn and possibly — almost definitely — make mistakes.”

The isolated circle of the university campus grants student journalists the perfect opportunity to report on stories that resonate with them while simultaneously cultivating relationships with other students and faculty members.

“Student journalism, there’s a special kind of energy there because its not as jaded as the real world,” said O’Kane. “There’s a real energy to dig for stories on a personal and connecting level with students on campus that you wouldn’t normally get with the huge daily [newspaper] that only has so many reporters to send around an entire city or country.”

At their best, student newspapers are a live wire for student life, culture and concerns. At their worst, they are still an asset. They provide a training ground for reporters who are new to the game but hungry to learn and sharpen their skills.

The Other Press “gave me an opportunity to write and improve in a supportive environment. I’ve published some absolutely garbage articles in my time, as I’m sure we all have, but the feedback and encouragement from my peers and editors has made each experience one I can grow from,” said Eric Wilkins, assistant editor at the Other Press, in an email to the Sheaf.

Despite the unavoidable hiccups, student newspapers have produced journalists who excel in their field. They will continue to do so due to the fact that, through their university publications,  student journalists have gained real world experience at a young age. The hands-on learning opportunities that university papers offer can even be more valuable than those obtained through a degree in journalism.

Such degrees don’t necessarily ensure a job after graduation, which is why work experience is especially important. However, one of the greatest obstacles facing student journalists is that many employers use journalism school as a prerequisite for consideration.

“It’s so easy to streamline the application process by only filtering in the people who have gone to journalism school because you can tell they have a minimum amount of education,” said O’Kane. “Unfortunately what that does is it tends to leave a lot of really great student journalists who may not have gone to journalism school, but through the reading and doing of great journalism, have actually really done amazing things. When I finished in CUP, I applied for 15 internships. I got one interview and no job. That was after doing journalism for six years.”

Though it does push the pause button on the career ambitions of many young journalists, the demand for a specialized education is nothing new — especially in a field that deals exclusively with reporting on events in an educated and factual manner.

Anyone can conduct research, write an article and post it online. Professional journalists should act as the gatekeepers for this mass spread of information in order to regulate what is circulated around the web and set a standard of accuracy. If no such standard is set, how will readers ever tell the truth from a cleverly veiled lie?

In a time when print media is already being eulogized by members of the public and even journalists themselves, being well versed in the inner workings of the Internet is an asset for student reporters. Being able to navigate through the never-ending onslaught of information posted on websites such as Facebook, Twitter and Reddit to find a compelling and newsworthy story is an invaluable skill for the modern journalist. Proficiency in such tasks often makes them ideal candidates for jobs in media or communication.

“There are many jobs in different sectors where student journalists are going to be applicable and needed,” said Dave Hutton, executive producer at the StarPhoenix and former editorial staff member at the Sheaf.

“That kind of synthesizing of information, the understanding of news and of media that is learned on the ground in student newspapers is really important. A lot of my previous colleagues from [the Sheaf] are now working journalists or lawyers or running their own magazines,” said Hutton. “They’ve all gone on to do pretty successful things and a lot of them would probably attribute that to their time working at a student newspaper.”

Mastery of online media is something that journalists have leaned more heavily towards in recent years but haven’t yet fully committed to.  Many still see the value of print, making them hesitant to let go of their physical papers and devote their publications exclusively to digital platforms. There is still a percentage of people whose loyalty remains with having their daily paper delivered to their door, but this group grows smaller and smaller each year and tends to mostly include older demographics.

The nostalgia for print newspapers applies even to the university press, as most of the student papers in Canada stubbornly continue to print and distribute a weekly paper despite a drastic dip in pickup.

“Almost every student newspaper in the country still puts its print product before its online and social media presence, which can cost it readers,” said Jane Lytvynenko, national executive of CUP, in an email to the Sheaf. “Most people get their news through Facebook and Twitter. They look for content that’s engaging — for example, stories that have compelling photographs and beautiful infographics. Year after year it makes little sense to stick to the status quo of putting print first. Despite that I’ve seen very little change in my five years in student media.”

Given these statistics, why are student journalists clinging so desperately to a ship that seems to be sinking? The readers who crave the comforting weight of a newspaper in their hands are a dying breed, making the work of professional and student journalists less relevant. In the most Darwinian of terms, journalists must adapt to live in the technological age or die alongside the printing press.

If journalism is such an precarious path though, why do so many people continue to take it?

Daren Zomerman, web editor for MacEwan University’s the Griff, believes that the appeal of journalism lies in humanity’s desire to tell and be told stories. The student press is one place people can go to make their voices heard.

“There’s nothing like seeing a piece evolve from the time you pitch the story to the moment you hit that final keystroke,” said Zomerman. “This is the incubator where ideas, bonds and voices are made.”

In addition to being a voice for students, campus newspapers are communities where students can build relationships that last long after they’ve left the newsroom.

“Getting to work with people who push you to grow and improve as you all put together the best publication you can is immensely valuable,” said Serafini. “We get to put our names on these beautiful publications, to say ‘I made that’ with amazing people who become like family.”

Being an outlet for student-related media breeds its own set of issues, however. Simply put, student papers get a lot of flack — especially when they’re reporting on sensitive topics that directly affect members of the university population. Nobody wants to see a negative reflection of themselves in the media, even if it’s the truth.

Due to more personal subject matter, the reception that student-run publications receive from the student body is often mixed.

Jacey Gibb, humour editor at Simon Fraser University’s the Peak, describes what is often the case for the student body’s opinion of his campus paper.

“I feel like people fall into three categories: they love the Peak, they hate the Peak, or they don’t know what the Peak is,” said Gibb.

Conflict between journalists and their readers certainly isn’t a new concept. Whether it’s because of a specific article, author or their opinion on the quality of the publication as a whole, students love to hate their campus newspaper.

“Conflicts between student journalists and student publications are frequent and unfortunate,” said Lytvynenko. “Most of the time, all it takes to resolve them is an open dialogue and an open mind, but that doesn’t happen.”

“‘Journalist’ is kind of a dirty word now. It’s a difficult job and it can be a thankless job,” said Gibb.

It often seems to be a futile struggle for student journalists to continue to exist in an environment that consistently tries to phase them out. Despite this negative feedback, student-run publications continue to publish papers across the country and national organizations such as CUP are in no danger of slowing down.

The student press remains strong because student papers are the only media outlets that are able to place their finger on the pulse of the campus community.

“Because of their ties to the community, student papers often gain the trust of sources and end up breaking stories that get picked up by national media. Across the country, student journalists are doing solid, important work nobody else is,” said Lytvynenko.

Campus newspapers are the conversation starters for student issues, the training camps for many of the country’s top journalists, the narrators of university history and the dumping grounds for student discontent. Whether you see your university newspaper as the lifeblood of campus culture or as the butt of a joke, it can’t be denied that student papers have been and will continue to be an integral facet of the global media landscape.