Save The Defender

Cassie Lathrope | clathrope@mail.smcvt.edu | Executive Editor

PHOTO COURTESY OF LIBRARY ARCHIVES Front page of The Defender issue following 9/11.

Imagine a campus where students do not have a platform to voice their concerns, nowhere to express academic, athletic, or creative achievements, and most importantly to my heart, no opportunity to prepare future journalists, photographers, digital artists, and writers. 

This is what will be lost if the school turns the class producing The Defender into a club-like activity. 

The administration is currently weighing the future direction of The Defender, but at the very least it’s likely to lose its status as a four-credit class. 

Given how much time it sucks up, I think few students will be willing to make the commitment if that happens.

As a student in The Defender class, I’ve had the opportunity to pitch story ideas, conduct interviews, take photographs, and write journalism and opinion pieces. 

Working on The Defender, you learn to engage in conversations that can be confrontational and controversial. The class teaches us to question everything we’re told and dig for the truth behind media and institutional spin.

No other class does all of this at the same time.

This semester I am taking two digital media and communication classes where one of our primary focuses is on how crucial local news is to our population. 

A decrease in local news leads to an overall sense of cynicism in the population as they receive only national and international news – both of which focus their reporting on negative coverage. 

In my classrooms, I have learned that a decrease in local news leads to communities being uniformed in local politics. This also correlates to state politicians being unaware of issues in small towns and cities. 

Newsrooms across the country have faced drastic economic challenges in the last few years with many having to close their doors for good. 

In 2022 it was reported that in the last 15 years, more than 2,100 newspapers have shut down, according to Marianne Aubin Le Quéré and Maurice Jakesch of Cornell Tech.

Since 1729, with the creation of the Pennsylvania Gazette owned by Benjamin Franklin, newspapers have relied heavily on advertising revenue to keep costs low and bring in a profit. 

With the surge in social media, companies are pivoting to those platforms to advertise their goods and services for little to no cost, leaving newspapers with empty ad pages and empty pockets. This decline in profits has led to a crisis for local papers. 

College newsrooms around the country staffed by student journalists are “filling in the gaps.” 

These student-run newsrooms cover stories on campus and in the surrounding area, fighting “news deserts” that are created due to the lack of local news and information, as reported by Mallory Carra of NBCU Academy. 

I am currently enrolled in my second semester of Storytelling for Publishing and Design, also known as The Defender class. 

Between regular class hours three days a week, interviews, attending and leading pitch meetings, pre-reporting research, our weekly 2.5-hour lab class, writing pieces, editing, and laying out page design, I spend anywhere between 10 and 15 hours a week working on the school paper. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY ARCHIVES. Front page of The Defender from Feb. 3, 1989.

This is double the amount of time I spend each week working my two on-campus jobs. 

Despite the time commitment, this is my second semester contributing to The Defender and I am considering coming back for a third. 

The satisfaction of seeing the outcome of your hard work published in a newspaper is one I never thought I would enjoy so much. 

Anyone who has taken The Defender understands the time it takes to publish our monthly print and online issue, which is why The Defender cannot afford to become a volunteer publication. 

Students at St. Michael’s College take anywhere from 3-5 classes a semester, are involved in various MOVE volunteer programs, work on-campus jobs, are varsity athletes and participate in other clubs. 

Even though I love being a part of The Defender, I would not be able to make the time and effort commitment to the paper if it was a club-like activity and no longer a four-credit class going toward my undergraduate degree. 

At the end of the fall 2022 semester, the media, journalism, and digital arts major’s name was changed to digital media and communications, abruptly eliminating the aspect of my major that best described my focus of study. 

Getting rid of The Defender as a class would further erode journalism from our major. 

The proposal to transition the newspaper into a club or some other kind of program might seem like a compromise—but it’s not. It can’t replicate the structure, dedication, or level of commitment required to produce a high-quality publication.

The Defender is more than an activity or hobby. It’s a cornerstone of our college that has been serving the community since 1947. 

Don’t take that away from us.

Alumni champion The Defender

Jonah M Kessel, ’05,  deputy director of Opinion Video at The New York Times 

My first practical experience with photojournalism was at The Defender. Shooting for The Defender got my work in front of photo editors at the Burlington Free Press, where I started freelancing before I graduated from St. Mike’s. 

PHOTO COURTESY OF THE LIBRARY ARCHIVES Front page of The Defender from Jan. 23, 1990 during the Gulf War.

Freelancing for the Free Press got me my first staff job at a community newspaper. 

That job led me to international journalism work in Africa and Asia. 

Those jobs led me to The New York Times where I have been for the past 14 years. It all started with the Defender. 

I truly wonder where I would be today without that first step, which can be so, so, so difficult to get.

Victoria Bradford, ’21, Copywriter at Thomson Reuters

The skills I developed while working on The Defender are essential in my current role as a copywriter. 

Without a dedicated class, I wouldn’t have had the time or resources to refine my ability to write clearly and convincingly.

If the class becomes a club, the additional time commitment may result in fewer devoted writers and limited opportunities to explore diverse student perspectives—something I believe is vital to St. Michael’s culture.

Tim Arango, ’96,  National Correspondent for the New York Times

When I showed up at Saint Michael’s in the autumn of 1992 I had only vague ambitions for what I wanted to do, but I had long had a love for newspapers. 

I delivered the paper in my neighborhood as a kid, and in high school, I would always get to school early to devour the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal in the library. 

Sometime in the early days as a freshman, I saw a notice that The Defender was looking for writers. I showed up, got my first assignment – something, if I recall, about then-presidential-candidate Bill Clinton’s proposal for a service program for recent college graduates – and when I completed it and got my first byline I was hooked.

I decided then and there to major in journalism, and a year or so later I quit the baseball team to become an editor at The Defender. 

I might not realize my first dream of playing for the New York Yankees, but I had my backup plan: to make it to the New York Times. 

While I loved all my regular journalism classes, working at The Defender was my most formative experience during college. And it was tons of fun. 

The late nights putting the paper to bed, and the late nights after reviewing the week over a few beers. I recall long discussions about journalism ethics, about stories, about where we wanted to go with our careers. 

And having The Defender as a class, earning credits, validated and justified all the work we were putting in. 

The experience set me up well for my career, going on 30 years now, that has taken me all over the country and the world. 

At a time when journalism itself is under so much pressure, supporting campus newspapers is essential to the future of the profession.

Hannah Wilmot, ’21, Digital Media Specialist at WCAX

Writing for the Defender was a unique experience and it definitely taught me a lot. Lessons learned included AP style writing skills, hard deadlines with a quick turnaround time as well as being able to create and bring a full story to life from a single topic.

“At a time when journalism itself is under so much pressure, supporting campus newspapers is essential to the future of the profession”

Madeline Hughes, ’17, Senior Reporter for MLex 

The two semesters I spent on the staff of The Defender as the News Editor and Executive Editor created a solid base for me to continue reporting as a professional. 

Having the time and support to report because it was a class allowed us to pursue hard-hitting and controversial stories that led to newspapers being stolen thrown out and burned. 

The presence of caring, experienced professors during that formative time helped me later in my career as I reported more controversial stories, including one that led to the state of Massachusetts being awarded $29,000 in civil penalties.

In a time when journalism and media literacy are struggling, the college should be expanding media literacy courses for credit, not restricting them. A strong student newspaper is essential to any informed student body.