Three newsmagazines have been approved for publication on the
Web after a month-long delay. UCLA students can look forward to
reading a new range of media from political commentary to
women’s issues from the convenience of their computers.
Three Webmagazines, The Worldly, Criterion, and Josie, each
received full approval from the Associated Students of UCLA’s
Communications Board Tuesday night to launch their publications
online.
“I’m really excited (about the approval),”
said Jennifer Chang, editor-in-chief of The Worldly.
“I’ve been prepared for this since last year.
It’s just good that we get this opportunity to use another
medium.”
The magazines were up for approval last month, but publication
got delayed because the Communications Board implemented a
three-hour-long workshop for the staff to learn about libel and
ethics.
The Communications Board is a component of ASUCLA that oversees
all Student Media, including the Daily Bruin, Al-Talib,
Ha’Am, Nommo, FEM, La Gente de Aztlán, Pacific Ties,
TenPercent, UCLAtv, the UCLA radio station and the yearbook,
Bruinlife.
Media Director Arvli Ward also announced during the meeting that
anyone with a magazine proposal would need to take the same libel
and ethics workshop before the publication is approved by the
board.
The creators of the Webmagazines were initially disappointed by
the delay because most of them already had a full staff of writers
eager to start working. One month later, they are still questioning
the necessity of the libel workshop which caused the
postponement.
“The real problem focuses on trying to teach something
that’s gained by experience,” said Andrew Jones,
creator of the political commentary magazine Criterion, and former
Daily Bruin Viewpoint columnist.
Jones said the delay caused his magazine to miss coverage of
significant stories last month, like the anti-gay graffiti that
showed up on campus five weeks ago.
“A lot of good stories have come and gone … we were
stalled by five weeks,” Jones said.
Though online publication can begin for the three newsmagazines,
Jones said the progress of Criterion is further slowed because of
unfamiliarity with the Student Media office’s facilities.
LiLi Tan, creator of the women’s magazine Josie, said that
although the training was effective, she would have preferred to
have gotten an early start on the magazine.
“The whole quarter is gone now. We could’ve had it
up and running … a lot of time is wasted,” Tan said, adding
that she will be holding an informational staff meeting for story
ideas.
Tan said she was inspired to create Josie last year after seeing
all the airbrushing done on magazine model photos during an
internship at a teen magazine over the summer.
“I want to change the body ideal,” Tan said.
“Maybe someday other magazines will follow.”
Unlike magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Glamour which are
geared toward an older demographic, Josie will be designed for 18
to 24-year-olds, Tan said.
Chang said she’s excited that The Worldly has been moved
to the Web because now it won’t be limited by printing
costs.
The magazine, which covers world culture and race relations in
the United States, was limited to four issues last year because it
only had enough funding for 500 copies.
Chang wants to implement an online message board for reader
feedback and an online archive of all print issues from last
year.
Both Tan and Chang anticipate their newsmagazines to hit
Bruinwalk.com around the beginning of winter quarter, noting that
because it’s the end of the quarter, it’s more
difficult to get started.