Students across campus now have the opportunity to read The New York Times for free through a two-month readership pilot program delivered by OU faculty and staff.
The two-month pilot program began March 23 in Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication, the Joe C. and Carole Kerr McClendon Honors College and the School of International and Area Studies. It supplies 150 copies of The New York Times Monday through Friday to the three participating academic programs at three designated newsstands.
“What it offers, it seems to be, is something of great value to students because for no investment of their own money, they have the opportunity to read the daily New York Times in hard copy,” said Kathryn Jenson White, journalism professor and Gaylord faculty coordinator for the readership program. “Many students, I feel, read the paper online, but the experience of reading online is very different from the experience of reading the hard copy.”
Jenson White said Gaylord College Dean Joe Foote approached her about beginning the program after he met with a representative from The New York Times Readership Program who expressed interest in bringing the newspaper to OU. Jenson White recruited Lesa Wilkerson, Gaylord administrative assistant and the two began coordinating the program in October.
After working with The New York Times Readership Program representatives, Jenson White and Wilkerson brought the program to campus, making OU one of nine Big 12 schools that have a readership program with the newspaper.
At a subsidized rate, the three participating academic programs fund one month of newspapers and The New York Times pays for the second month, Jenson White said.
In order for this pilot program to become a permanent fixture at OU, student interest in the program is vital, she said.
“Students will vote with their hands,” Jenson White said. “If they pick up the paper and we see that they’re gone, then we’ll try to pursue funding but again, we’re not invested in whether it’s a success or not, we just want to offer it to students if indeed it’s something that they can benefit from.”
Wilkerson has been tracking student interest in the program daily and monitoring how many copies of the newspaper are left over from the previous day. She said response from Gaylord students has been good.
“That’s a real tangible example of how interested students are, just if the copies are gone,” Wilkerson said. “If you return in the morning and find that there are only two papers or 10 papers, then you can have a real tangible number that guides you.”
Tracy Holloway, academic adviser and readership program facilitator at the School of International and Area Studies, said the newsstand in Hester Hall is not cleared out everyday, but student interest and readership has been high.
Exposure to a newspaper that covers global events is essential to her students’ education, Holloway said.
“I certainly hope it can become a permanent program come fall,” she said. “That’s our goal ... that the response to it this spring will be great enough that we can get some more colleges or the university as a whole interested.”
Students also hope they will continue to receive free copies of The New York Times.
Megan Hulshizer, international and area studies and German sophomore, said she thinks there is enough student interest to sustain the program. She lives in the David L. Boren Hall dorms and said The New York Times newsstand has been cleared almost every morning since the start of the pilot program.
Hulshizer, who purchases the Sunday edition of The New York Times every week, said it’s important to have exposure to national publications that cover global events.
“The OU Daily only has so much international news that it can give us, so I think it’s important to expand your knowledge about the world,” Hulshizer said.
Though more print publications are turning their efforts to online and multimedia outlets, Hulshizer said she still reads the print versions.
“Not everybody can just carry their laptop around with them or carry an iPhone with them at all times to get the news,” Hulshizer said. “I guess Web sites can update it [news] as soon as something happen, but I like getting the Sunday New York Times and being able to sit down with a cup of coffee and read it cover to cover.”
Jenson White said the experience of reading a newspaper is something all students can benefit from. Online news allows viewers to jump from one story to the next, but reading a print publication allows readers to draw connections and see what news was considered worthy of including in a print publication, she said.
“I think we want, in Gaylord College, to offer students the experience of reading the newspaper as a print product because we want students to have [the] experience of both the online journalism that The New York Times represents at such a high level and the print product that is still one of the top three or four newspapers in the country,” she said.
Where to Find Your Copy of The New York Times
Look for the blue newsstands to get a free copy of The New York Times Monday through Friday at these locations.
• School of International and Area Studies
– Hester Hall, first floor outside of Room 105
• Gaylord College of Journalism and Mass Communication – Gaylord Hall, southwest entrance
• Joe C. and Carole Kerr McClendon Honors College – David L. Boren Hall, southeast entrance near OU Scholars office
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JJanowiak 3 years, 1 month ago
Hopefully this becomes a permanent program. I got so excited seeing this I ran to Gaylord, expecting them to already have run out (because seriously, who wouldn't want to read a free NYT?!) and there were still many copies left. However, for those of us stuck with the online edition, it really is a huge, huge moneysaver and there are crosswords! Much love to the person who came up with the idea.
nguy2987 3 years, 1 month ago
Copies are not in convienient locations. Awesome but if it depends on how many copies are picked up should've advertised better and placed in better locations. (logic)