Campus newspaper gives students a voice
It鈥檚 no secret that print newspapers are an endangered species.
Cities as large as and are without printed daily newspapers, as media companies shift to digital, reduce their print schedule, or close entirely.
For colleges and universities, it鈥檚 more of the same. In the past four years, the state flagship universities of , , and have shifted their student newspapers from print to online-only editions.
At EMU, the ink and newsprint are still very much alive. Every two weeks during the school year, a dynamic team of writers, editors, designers, and photographers works to put together and publish . The student-run print newspaper, which averages 12 pages of stories and color photos per issue, captures the buzz on campus through reporting and perspectives on campus policies, cultural trends, and national politics.
The half-broadsheet (a term referring to the paper鈥檚 physical size) prints 14 issues each academic year and is in its 72nd volume. Read about the history of EMU鈥檚 student newspaper, from its first issue as the mimeographed “Purple Press” in 1939 to its merger with The Journal in 1956, in this EMU News article from 2016.
A paper of record
This semester, juniors Caleb Metzler and Alex Belisle serve as the paper鈥檚 co-editors-in-chief. They lead a mix of work-study, practicum, and volunteer student staffers.
It鈥檚 a new experience for Belisle. The biology and political science major from Newport News, Virginia, is in his first semester in the post. He鈥檚 recently been reading articles from old Weather Vane issues and says it鈥檚 exciting to think about how their stories might be viewed years into the future.
鈥淚t gives a view into what students from a certain time were thinking and what the attitudes were from that time,鈥� said Belisle. 鈥淚 think we underestimate how much norms can change.鈥�
For example, he said, one article he read in an archived issue of The Weather Vane quoted a student predicting that the United States would elect a Black president before electing a Catholic one.
鈥淭here鈥檚 definitely going to be a story in this issue or the next one that isn鈥檛 super interesting to us,鈥� he said, 鈥渂ut in four years it鈥檒l be like, Oh, why were they thinking that at the time? That鈥檚 so weird.鈥�
For Metzler, the role is a familiar one. The York, Pennsylvania, native, who is majoring in political science, sociology, and Spanish, is in his third semester leading the paper. He joined as a staff writer during his first year at EMU, where he 鈥渨rote a lot of stories and learned a lot of lessons,鈥� he said.
鈥淵ou have to be a team player,鈥� said Metzler, sharing one of those lessons. 鈥淚f you don鈥檛 do your work, everybody else is going to be scrambling to pick up after you, and that鈥檚 not fun.鈥�
Metzler said they鈥檝e been free to express their opinions without fear of censorship from the administration. 鈥淪hannon,鈥� he said, referring to Interim President Rev. Dr. Shannon W. Dycus, 鈥渉as been very supportive of what we do.鈥�
Sitara Hackney, managing editor for The Weather Vane, agreed. 鈥淲e try and encourage people to express themselves as they want,鈥� said Hackney, a junior history and education major in her sixth semester with the paper. 鈥淎s copy editors, part of our job is changing what people write, but it鈥檚 still their names getting printed with their articles.鈥�
From plan to print
It鈥檚 just past 5:30 p.m. on a Wednesday in January when Metzler and Belisle call the production night meeting, their first of the spring 2026 semester, to order. They stand in front of a whiteboard in the basement lounge of Maplewood Residence Hall, dry erase markers in hand.
鈥淲hat is everybody interested in writing about?鈥� Metzler asks the group of 10 students.
Staff Writer Samuel Castaneda calls out an idea for an : 鈥淗aving an 8 a.m. virtual class on a snow day is not something that should happen.鈥�
Another student pitches a on the hazing training required for all EMU employees. 鈥淢aybe there鈥檚 a story there,鈥� ponders Metzler. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 EMU鈥檚 history with hazing?鈥�
After his older brother, Campus Life Editor and Micah Wenger, suggests getting tickets to see a one-woman show, Sell Me: I am from North Korea, at James Madison University鈥檚 Forbes Center for the Performing Arts, first-year student and Opinion Editor Reuben Wenger agrees to for the paper.
There鈥檚 almost always space in the paper for the word search, sudoku, and maze puzzles contributed by Copy Editor Ethan Kanagy. It鈥檚 typically among the most popular sections of The Weather Vane, says Belisle.
鈥淚鈥檝e seen people in the caf doing the puzzles,鈥� he says.
鈥淲e hear complaints when there aren鈥檛 any puzzles,鈥� Metzler chimes in.
After collecting story ideas for the issue coming out in two weeks, the co-editors-in-chief lead their team of staffers into the Weather Vane newsroom to put together the next day鈥檚 paper. Fueled by camaraderie and slices of Marco鈥檚 Pizza, the students work through the night editing and designing pages until the paper is put to bed (meaning it鈥檚 finished and ready to print). On Thursday morning, the newspaper will be printed at a site about 40 minutes away and delivered to campus later that afternoon.
Despite the pitches they hear at the planning meeting, one unexpected event ends up dominating the front page. Four nights later, a burst of extremely cold weather causes a inside one of the residence halls. It isn鈥檛 until 2 a.m. that the issue finally comes together.
For more information about The Weather Vane, contact faculty advisor Mary Ann Zehr at maryann.zehr@emu.edu or the student editors at wvane@emu.edu.
Glad to hear that The Weather Vane is still flourishing after all these years. Now lets work on allowing more of my comments (even the ones that disagree with what’s in the articles) to get published to the comment sections in the Weekly News Digests, especially since “first amendment freedoms flourish.” Because, I’ll tell you, a lot of the articles disgust me in so many ways, and make me more and more disappointed at how far EMU has declined. If we’re really promoting this “freedom,” we should probably remove all screening of comments and let people express their views about EMU and the content it promotes.
Here’s my message to the student journalists on The Weather Vane:
I’m 50 years beyond the time that I was editor-in-chief of the daily tabloid at my Canadian university (it appeared 5 days per week during the school year). I went on to work for the Canadian Press wire service and a succession of daily newspapers, wrapping up my journalism career in 2015 as editor-in-chief of EMU’s official publications.
There is NOTHING that was more decisive in my life than my two years on the student newspaper. And it’s not just me. I’m on the organizing committee for a reunion of Canadian Press (Montreal) journalists from the 1970s and 1980s. Many of the 50 or so people on my contact list have submitted 300-word mini-bios for a reunion brochure. Almost all of them fondly recall their first forays into journalism as students. All of them led amazingly interesting lives from their 20s onwards (or maybe I haven’t heard from those whose lives weren’t that great).
And — this article is right — all of us from my newspaper era are worried about the demise of fact-based journalism in this era of rampant online misinformation. Do what you’re doing! You’ll never regret those sleepless nights of “putting the paper to bed.” In fact, you’ll love remembering them.