by Alexis Joffe

“We transformed the classroom into a newsroom,” Lauterer said.

Lauterer and his students first recognized Carrboro’s need for a community newspaper during a guest lecture by Robert Dickson, publisher of The News-Journal of Hoke County. Soon the concept flourished into a biweekly e-zine, an online publication, at carrborocommons.org.

Lauterer has years of community newspaper experience and also directs the Carolina Community Media Project, but his role in the publication of The Carrboro Commons is purely supervisory; his students are responsible for all of the writing. Students in the class began by interviewing Carrboro residents about whether they preferred a print or online publication. Nine out of 10 respondents said that an online paper would be OK but that they also wanted a print version.

“There still is a real hunger and thirst for ink on paper,” Lauterer said.

Dickson covered the cost of publishing the first print issue of The Carrboro Commons to help get the endeavor on its feet. He has also since teamed up with journalist Kirk Ross to begin publishing a traditional weekly newspaper for Carrboro, The Carrboro Citizen, which launched March 21.

The online format of The Carrboro Commons provides Lauterer’s students room for experimentation, such as podcasting or providing audio programs online.

Lauterer also teamed up with Assistant Professor Andy Bechtel’s “Advanced News Editing” class in the spring semester to provide the paper with its first copy editors.

Although Bechtel restructured his class, he said he likes the new feel: “It is more like a newsroom environment than the other classes I’ve taught. It is a good chance for the students to edit some real local news.” But since Bechtel’s class meets only in the spring, Lauterer is not yet sure where he will find copy editors for the fall 2007 semester.

So far, Lauterer said his classes have surprised him with their innovations. Christina Lopez, a junior journalism major from Salisbury, started her own bilingual column for Latinos, who comprise 14 percent of Carrboro’s population. Similarly, junior Tim Reese became The Carrboro Commons’ first podcast producer.

Liz Thomas, co-editor of The Carrboro Commons, said she has learned a great deal from the new newsroom setting. “News writers have an obligation to be accessible. If a writer forgets to send an attachment when e-mailing us their story, even if they go on a weekend trip, they will need to find access to a computer, fax machine or carrier pigeon before the deadline.”
 
Like any new project, however, the paper has faced its share of obstacles such as deadlines and editing, but with each semester it has also seen its share of improvements.

“The learning occurs in the crucible of reality and real time,” Lauterer observed. “Dealing with speed bumps is part of the process, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

“This is the single most exciting journalism project I’ve ever had the privilege of being involved with.” ♦

Alexis Joffe is a senior in the school’s news-editorial sequence. Joffe also is majoring in Spanish.