Seattle Central College’s student news publication changed formats this year from a magazine to a broadsheet, and for good reason: people on campus kept mistaking the old Central Circuit as a promotional brochure.
Editor Mohamed Adan told CHS that making the Central Circuit look more like an obvious news publication was one of his top priorities when he took the helm of the paper in 2014. Only minor editorial changes have been planned as part of the format change, Adan said. The editor is planning to expand circulation into more neighborhood businesses soon.
“People are picking it up and there’s been an uptick in people wanting to contribute to the newspaper,” he said. “The change has been very positive so far.”
Central Circuit editor Mohamed Adan (Photo: CHS)
The Central Circuit, and its predecessor publications, have had a long and contentious relationship with the SCC administration and the college’s publications board. In 2008, the administration shutdown the City Collegian newspaper following the publication of articles that were critical of the college and one editorial that claimed black poverty stemmed from a culture of victimhood.
CHS contributor and Central Circuit alum Casey Jaywork wrote an excellent story on the recent history of SCC student publications — starting with the City Collegian’s shutdown leading to the underground New City Collegian and the rise of the Central Circuit.
Relations between the administration and Central Circuit have cooled recently, but Adan said the newspaper staff will continue pushing the administration to address critical issues on campus. Getting a student representative on the college’s publication board is near the top of that list.
“At the end of the day, this publication is protected by the First Amendment and we have all the same rights as any publication,” Adan said. “Our intention is not to ruffle any feathers, our intention is to report the news.”
I find it funny for a few reasons….
1. One of the “hubs” for tech and a mile away from a nexus of E-Everything and they are doing a printed paper?
2. SCCC, center of Capitol Hill, supposed super open minded, liberal mecca and the previous paper was shut down over freedom of speech?
A hard copy is still very popular. The student paper at the college i used to work was up online, but many preferred to read the printed version. Students also liked to print whole websites and power points. Paper was the biggest expense in IT.
Cornel West has boycotted the University of Illinois for declining to hire a professor who would tweet anti-Israel and/or anti-Jewish screeds every 10 minutes. There has been a lot of support for this professor who taught at Virginia Tech for 10 years. I’m curious why this same crowd never rallies across the kind of harassment then censorship of the kind seen in regard to that opinion piece published in the Collegian.
In Steven Salaita’s case, UIUC did not “decline to hire” him. They gave him a job offer and then, after he resigned his position at VTech, they withdrew said offer. He has also never tweeted “anti-Jewish screeds” but engaged in free and open discussion about the status of the occupied territories. In response, a boycott against UIUC’s decision to hire him was launched by AIPAC and Koch Bros.-funded astroturfing groups. UIUC’s decision to withdraw his job offer is now being litigated.