Even though the newspaper bins are empty, the Muleskinner remains. More importantly, the people behind the Muleskinner remain.
According to Muleskinner reports, the newspaper was placed in a one-year abeyance over the summer, affecting 11 student staff positions. The idea was to have them maintain the newspaper’s website, digitalBURG.com, but they wouldn’t be paid for it.
The staff’s wages were reinstated on Aug. 4.
That isn’t to say things in the newsroom are exactly as they’ve ever been.
“The rollercoaster effect was more of an emotional feeling of uncertainty earlier on in the semester,” said Jacque Flanagan, managing editor of the Muleskinner. “We weren’t sure if we even had jobs, and as a pretty green staff it made it difficult from a managerial standpoint to motivate the staff in a way that reflected the fact that the abeyance has put a spotlight on us.”
Joe Moore, associate professor of communication and digital media and production program coordinator, has noticed the results.
“I believe the staff has handled the changes just as I predicted: with professionalism and determination,” he said. “They have shown incredible adaptability, the new site looks fantastic, and I could not be prouder.”
Previously, the Muleskinner was a biweekly print publication. This semester, it is weekly and entirely online; by the end of the semester, the staff will have produced twice as many editions.
“It’s a pressing time kind of adjustment,” Flanagan said. “We have a few staff members that have only worked under a biweekly publication, but we still had to work around getting them in the right workflow.”
She said the staff is finding its rhythm.
“Not having the summer to prep really did prevent us from being ready,” she said, “but I’m starting to see the sense of ‘We needed it yesterday’ creep across the rest of the staff. They’re starting to get into the swing of it.”
Another hill that had to be climbed – a big one – was retaining staff after wages were cut.
Leah Kemple, news editor at the Muleskinner, was hired at the end of last semester prior to the budget cuts and stayed.
“I was committed to keeping my position with or without money available for my pay,” she said. “But I was still pretty upset when I found out the paper was being put in abeyance.”
Overall, the newspaper lost only one editor.
“That says a lot about the dedication the students have to the paper and how vital a learning tool the paper is to the department,” Flanagan said. “The learning model we currently use does need improvements, but retention isn’t one of them. We have an environment that once students get in here, they have a hard time leaving – they know it’s where they need to be.”
Flanagan said that with every published edition (through Sept. 21 there have been five), it is getting better.
“Each of the issues has been as I’ve expected – difficult – but they get better by the week, which is good,” she said.
The abeyance complicated business at the Muleskinner, but Flanagan said the Muleskinner staff is up for the challenge.
“It will be hard, but I’m looking forward to the result, something we all as a university and department can be proud of,” she said.