15 February 2011

Look out Canberra Times, Woroni is... actually, don't worry.

15 February 2011 | creative_canberran

For the past three months, the new Woroni team, for the first time independent of ANUSA has promised it was working hard to finally deliver a proper newspaper. No doubt The Canberra Times management was losing sleep over christmas awaiting the launch of their new, free competitor. Now that it’s out, I think they’ll sleep easy.

It’s no surprise, talking to the editors back in December, they had to ask what “monetising their website” meant.

The response: we’ll get sponsors and like, ads maybe.

Asked about distribution, they proudly announced two newsagents would carry it. Asked whether they would have it in cafes for the coffee crowd who need something to read, I was greeted by a blank stare.

They didn’t know about the content, but they were concerned about “choosing nice fonts and colours”.

Understandable then that the content is poor. News articles months out of date and written like high school essays and strange reviews including one about a coffee shop that doesn’t mention the coffee, instead focusing on the “good-looking” staff.

So another competitor with great potential turns out a flop, meanwhile the CT is losing readers at quite a rate.

The media landscape in Canberra isn’t looking good.

[ED – Present company excluded we hope]

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pseudonymous7:43 pm 07 Nov 11

creative_canberran said :

Thanks for your post, just sent you a message. Cheers.

I bet next year’s Woroni will now be markedly better.

creative_canberran5:40 pm 07 Nov 11

knoobs said :

@creative_canberran I will be involved with Woroni for next year and many of the points you’ve raised are fair ones. You also have an understanding of multimedia production/interviewing and, in all sincerity, we’d love to have you involved especially on expanding the radio and multimedia side of Woroni.

Thanks for your post, just sent you a message. Cheers.

knoobs4:51 pm 05 Nov 11

@creative_canberran I will be involved with Woroni for next year and many of the points you’ve raised are fair ones. You also have an understanding of multimedia production/interviewing and, in all sincerity, we’d love to have you involved especially on expanding the radio and multimedia side of Woroni.

@bloviate I totally share your concerns regarding the aesthetic appeal of Woroni and we are actually looking for an Art Director for next year who will focus specifically on layout design and have a working knowledge of InDesign, Photoshop etc.

It would be great to have you guys involved. Would you be interested in getting in touch? Please let me know through here or email into us at woroni at anu.edu.au.

bloviate4:22 pm 05 Nov 11

Back on topic – Yes, Woroni could do with a bit of work. As a student of the Art School, it frustrates me when it is published void of aesthetic concern. It submits to visual gimmicks (e.g. the penguin book themed cover) that are an insult to the students at the top of Childers Street.
If the magazine proclaims to be the voice of the ANU, then a concern about the whole of the ANU would be respected. I’m yet to meet anyone who actually reads it. I’m sure the buddies of the writers do, and that’s just swell to them.

Yes it’s a student ‘news’paper, and yes it’s therefore rhetoric to critise it. But it doesn’t have to be awful, and it pisses me off when I’m waiting for my (efficiently organised) doctors appointment, with nothing else besides me to read.

bloviate4:09 pm 05 Nov 11

creative_canberran said :

bloviate said :

creative_canberran said :

* Students experience waits of between 1-4 weeks for access to the medical service and counselling service
* Students recently protested the merger of two on campus libraries, and Woroni was vocal in supporting the opposition.

Well hey, this isn’t the least bit true.

As an ANU student, I’ve (on several occasions) seen a doctor on the same day that I’ve booked. The health services are great.

And as far as the library merger goes? If you’re refering to the merger of the Art School and Music libraries – then Woroni was definitely not in support of the opposition you goose. They simply ran an article about how police were present at the protest. If you have the article near-by, there’s a good pic of me in it.

I understand your frustration – Woroni is a pile of shite. Just don’t go making up lies about it. I too would like to see it improved, but that’s not going to happen if you ham off like this.
That said – Woroni makes for great fuel in our fire bins

ANU Counselling Service: “During the quiet part of term it is sometimes possible to make an appointment for a normal session within a week however during the busier periods there may be a longer waiting period. We are keen to provide you and other students with access to counselling without waiting several weeks”

Medical service can vary wildly and I’ve not used it personally. For every person who has gotten an appointment within 24hrs, others have had to wait days. Also, unlike many private health centres in Canberra, it only operates 5 days a week, so students have had to find alternatives on weekends.

As for the coverage of the library merger, the articles never criticised the tact of the protestors, it just promoted their points. Had they drawn attention to the blank negativity (as the mainstream media do about Abbot for example), it would have been more balanced.

Well, in my experience of the ANU health services – I’ve never had, nor known of a wait in getting an appointment. While there are certain areas of the ANU that I feel could be granted more attention (like the issue of real estate you mentioned earlier), the health services are not one. While I understand your point; I don’t think there is rationality in comparing Woroni to the medicinal availabilities of the ANU. This is a bit of a stretch good sir.
You make it seem like ANU funding all comes from one big kitty, like Scroodge McDuck’s coin vault. Quite simply, if Woroni has been allowed a room to publish their awful ‘news’paper, it doesn’t mean that other ANU resources are lessened in the process. ANU funding is far more complicated than that.

I’m on your side, just not in how you’re arguing it. As an ANU student, I can poke a fair few holes in what you’re saying. BUT, I can see that it’s not lies (like I accused you off before, sorry), just ill-informed information. And that’s understandable.

mareva2:42 pm 05 Nov 11

Undergrad writers have the journalistic integrity of a gnat. A lot of these people don’t work (thanks to daddy’s dollars), or do menial work. They have not learnt the value professional integrity. As such, paraphrasing the BBC? Pssh, standard. Consulting all of 2 sources for a front page ball-breaker? That’s 2 too many. But such is life for a student newspaper. Unworldly, highly opinionated garbage.

creative_canberran2:29 pm 05 Nov 11

bloviate said :

creative_canberran said :

* Students experience waits of between 1-4 weeks for access to the medical service and counselling service
* Students recently protested the merger of two on campus libraries, and Woroni was vocal in supporting the opposition.

Well hey, this isn’t the least bit true.

As an ANU student, I’ve (on several occasions) seen a doctor on the same day that I’ve booked. The health services are great.

And as far as the library merger goes? If you’re refering to the merger of the Art School and Music libraries – then Woroni was definitely not in support of the opposition you goose. They simply ran an article about how police were present at the protest. If you have the article near-by, there’s a good pic of me in it.

I understand your frustration – Woroni is a pile of shite. Just don’t go making up lies about it. I too would like to see it improved, but that’s not going to happen if you ham off like this.
That said – Woroni makes for great fuel in our fire bins

ANU Counselling Service: “During the quiet part of term it is sometimes possible to make an appointment for a normal session within a week however during the busier periods there may be a longer waiting period. We are keen to provide you and other students with access to counselling without waiting several weeks”

Medical service can vary wildly and I’ve not used it personally. For every person who has gotten an appointment within 24hrs, others have had to wait days. Also, unlike many private health centres in Canberra, it only operates 5 days a week, so students have had to find alternatives on weekends.

As for the coverage of the library merger, the articles never criticised the tact of the protestors, it just promoted their points. Had they drawn attention to the blank negativity (as the mainstream media do about Abbot for example), it would have been more balanced.

bloviate1:55 pm 05 Nov 11

creative_canberran said :

* Students experience waits of between 1-4 weeks for access to the medical service and counselling service
* Students recently protested the merger of two on campus libraries, and Woroni was vocal in supporting the opposition.

Well hey, this isn’t the least bit true.

As an ANU student, I’ve (on several occasions) seen a doctor on the same day that I’ve booked. The health services are great.

And as far as the library merger goes? If you’re refering to the merger of the Art School and Music libraries – then Woroni was definitely not in support of the opposition you goose. They simply ran an article about how police were present at the protest. If you have the article near-by, there’s a good pic of me in it.

I understand your frustration – Woroni is a pile of shite. Just don’t go making up lies about it. I too would like to see it improved, but that’s not going to happen if you ham off like this.
That said – Woroni makes for great fuel in our fire bins

creative_canberran1:34 am 05 Nov 11

QuietPlease said :

And as far as the radio show goes: in only 13 1-hour shows have managed to interview… Wyatt Roy MP

I would suggest that an interview doesn’t count unless its good. Unfortunately, their interviews are sleep inducing numbers that fall far short of the Frost/O’Brien/Parkinson level… or even the Grimshore ACA level.

Case in point: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qqLpwnuYMz0

Video is poorly framed and positioned, wrong microphones used, questions rambling and uninsightful.

Seriously I could go in with an iPhone, a post it note with dot points for issues to cover and do far better.

luther_bendross9:10 am 27 Oct 11

I know this site is one of opinions and that ANU is a part of Canberra, but all this wank talk over Woroni (and subsequently where this thread has headed) is utter tripe. Woroni is only relevant to students, and even then their readership is s***house. The rest of us couldn’t care less about ANU students’ medical waiting times and your lack of counselling services. You want medical: there’s a bajillion services around Canberra, stop complaining that the one most convenient to you is busy. Sometimes the rhetoric spouting from ANU students’ (and alumni that can’t let go) mouths epitomises all that s**ts me about self-important, life experience-lacking, insulated, hobo students. How about you all go Occupy something to get your incredibly vague and disjointed arguments acoss.

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