The Cougar is the University of Houston’s oldest student organization. | File photo/The Cougar
On one of my first days in Keith Houk’s Media and Society class, he said something that stood out to me.
“If you ever want to take over a country, the first thing you have to do is take over the media.”
Media is a powerful thing whether you’re planning world domination or simply want to do some good in your own backyard.
I’m writing this on a Sunday, in the middle of the hustle and bustle of print production. I’ve been interrupted five times since I started writing this, and that’s probably just the start of it.
Media, and the need for it, never stops.
The Cougar has, historically, been here since UH’s beginning. We were the first student organization UH ever had and continue to strive to be the best we can be each and every day.
Our editorial independence makes us different from others. We have advisers who are here to do just that — advise.
They can’t control anything we publish.
Our First Amendment right as journalists is always in tact, and for that we are forever grateful. We’ve never had to deal with rebellion from administration like so many other universities around the country.
There’s a value to student journalism.
Not only does it allow for journalists-to-be to train for the workforce, but enables them to have a safe place to make mistakes, learn about all aspects of media and becoming deeper embedded in the university and education that they are getting.
Our job is to be the voice of the students.
Other media publications cover UH, sure, but they aren’t a direct outlet to students.Student voices need to be heard and that’s what The Cougar is here to do.
We’re going to show UH’s bad side, too. We aren’t afraid to do that because that’s exactly what’s going on at the University. Life isn’t perfect and neither is UH.
We have a job to do each and every day. I’m not saying we’re perfect, but we fight through a lot to try and get the most accurate, timely news out to you as soon as possible.
In honor of National Newspaper Week, I’m glad to say that there is a student newspaper at the University of Houston campus, and that there’s no signs of that reign ending any time soon.
No other organization does what we do, and I’m proud to be at the helm of such a dedicated and passionate group of people willing lay it all out on the line in the name of journalism.
— Glissette Santana, editor in chief
Having written for The Daily Cougar in the past, I understand how tiring this gig can be. That being said, it seems many of the stories in recent months (or years even) have been a lot less fleshed out. I would argue that this medium is a voice FOR the students, no of the students, and when information for students is being transmitted somewhat vaguely or with overwhelming bias it becomes hard to take it seriously.
I like knowing the going-ons of campus (good or bad) and that I’m being given this information without censorship or oversight from the university, and for that I will always see value in this publication, but The Daily Cougar should be holding itself to a higher standard in what it’s actually publishing.
Agreed. To many times I have seen bias in favor of the University and not enough criticism. Remember the vote for paying for the new stadium or the totally non-existent reporting of moving a full major out to Sugar Land making students have to juggle impossible class schedules between main campus and Sugar Land’s? Neither do I. There are real issues that effect the students of UH and yet I still see front page covers of fluff (soccer team, really?). How about a story on how all the students that paid for parking get screwed over tomorrow for game day? Never seen that story either and you know what, probably never will.
Meh, pretty good points, but talking about parking on campus at this point is practically beating a dead horse who’s preaching to the choir. Everyone knows parking is a problem on a day-to-day basis and this paper has run about ten-thousand stories about it. The master plan has two more parking structures planned for the next couple of years which will curtail parking issues for a time, but it undermines the issue I’ve pointed out before that development at UH has a bad habit of trying to keep up with its growing student body instead of getting ahead of it.
Currently, one of the most pressing issues facing students is the Campus Carry legislation about to take effect this Spring. In the past, the UH Student Government Association came out strongly against this measure when it was still a proposal, but has since been blunted by the a Texas state law which permits it and outlaws opposition to it. Already, University of Texas is protesting this law, with some 163 faculty as well as numerous students and staff joining in. They even have a FB group. The Daily Cougar, however, has given voice to the pro Campus Carry crowd by allowing NRA-sponsored propaganda from them to be covered as “news” while those who oppose it are relegated to “opinion”. This is clearly a violation of the DC’s duty to offer a “balanced” viewpoint by offering propaganda as news. As a retired professional reporter, and now a UH senior, I can assure you that the reasoned voices opposing Campus Carry far outweigh the fringe voices of those supporting it and whose rhetoric is merely an echo of NRA hysteria about “rights” and criminals with guns enhanced by the “good guy” with a gun myth. The DC has a duty to promote the student’s right to know the facts, not just promote NRA demagoguery in the service of the 1st Amendment.