who are we?
Mission
The Office of Student Media provides quality, independent news and commentary to the Alabama State University community in an accurate, timely and unbiased manner. It serves as an inclusive, professional learning environment where student journalists can gain first-hand experience through various mediums of communication. It publishes content that is exclusively conceptualized, created, edited and published by students. Student Media advocates for the continued freedom of the student press and serves as an example of journalistic integrity.
Vision
The Office of Student Media believes that a well-informed public is the forerunner of justice and the foundation of democracy. Thus, the office fulfills a role critically essential to the health of a vibrant university in a democratic society. The office strives to produce award-winning, university-run and student-led publications, which chronicle and document the history of the University, while providing meaningful student opportunities that enhance the collegiate experience through education, training and hands-on experiences, management, leadership, ethics, responsibility, and community service.
Values
The Office of Student Media supports the mission, vision, values, and goals of the Division for Student Affairs and Enrollment Management and Alabama State University by providing both individuals and groups at the University with vehicles to publicize activities, events, and information of relevance to the campus community. Advisors and students who work in the Office of Student Media adhere to guidelines established by the College Media Advisors, Associated Collegiate Press, Associated Press, and the Society for Professional Journalists.
Our History
Student Media’s history is as diverse and entertaining as Alabama State University’s history. Founded in 1879 by the University’s second president, William Burns Paterson, the first recorded effort by students to create media is the Normal Reporter (a community newspaper). Even though President Paterson did the writing and editing of the newspaper, according to the research, students were involved in the printing of the newspaper as the students were apprentices, learning the printing industry. However, once State Normal was relocated to Montgomery and renamed the State Normal School for Colored Students, Paterson resumed the publishing of the Normal Reporter, but this time students were doing both the writing and editing. In May, 1923, President Harper Councill Trenholm, Ph.D., led the school as it developed from a normal school to a full-fledged college, with five-year teacher training and a grantor of the Master of Education degree beginning in 1943. He also reorganized the Normal Reporter and renamed it the State Normal Courier and began printing the medium on a monthly basis.
In 1927, one year after assuming the presidency, Trenholm introduced the HORNET Yearbook to the university community. The HORNET Yearbook, under his guidance and careful eye, would serve as both a memory and history book for the University. During the 1940s, the HORNET Yearbook stopped publishing due to the impact of World War II and the lack of money the University was receiving at that time. Meanwhile, the State Normal Courier continued as a monthly publication. Trenholm gradually released his mentorship to other faculty members, who began to guide the staff when writing, editing, and designing the State Normal Courier. Through its early years, the newspaper was no more than four pages, but it resembled other newspapers of the day, as it was the first newspaper to be produced by Negro students at a black college in the state of Alabama.
The first major change in the paper’s traditional production came in 1950, when the name changed from the State Normal Courier to The Hornet. In 1951, it was called the Alabama State College Hornet and Freshmore, but 11 years later, in 1962, the name changed to its present name - The Hornet Tribune. Aside from the newspaper’s numerous name changes, the frequency of publication also shifted. Publication moved from one edition per month to two editions per month under the leadership of several university faculty.
In 1989, the leadership of The Hornet Tribune and the HORNET Yearbook was placed under the direction of Kenneth A. Dean, J.D. The Hornet Tribune became a weekly publication, and the HORNET Yearbook an annual publication.
Journalism, along with the rest of the world, has changed. Alabama State University students are now more apt to find information about the goings-on of campus from social media than The Hornet Tribune. Gone are the days when “The Hornet Tribune” is the main source of information for everyone. More people are transitioning from traditional mediums, such as television, to online mediums. More and more, the traditions of the past are being deconstructed in favor of new, creative, and inventive forms of media and information. Social media platforms, such as Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat, have become the new normal for information. To keep up with the current trends, The Hornet Tribune published its first online edition of the newspaper with the assistance of College Media Services in 2001. Since that time, students have begun to transition into the digital age. In an effort to increase its reach, recent years have seen the newspaper prioritizing digital content and social media interaction more and more. As The Hornet Tribune strives to stay relevant in the digital age, the staff members pride themselves on one thing: the commitment to getting the story right.
After the release of the 2013 HORNET Yearbook, university administrators decided that it was no longer cost effective to produce the annual publication.
In another 100 years, The Hornet Tribune may be a relic of the past as we move rapidly into the digital age. It has already been recommended by some administrators that The Hornet Tribune drop the printed edition and go strictly with an online edition each week. However, most universities have retained both. In fact, the largest commercial newspapers in the United States are still printing daily, but also post an online version.
As we move forward into the third decade of this millennium, the University may one day decide that a student-operated newspaper is not worth the time or money. That is why it is imperative that The Hornet Tribune become financially independent so that its voice will always be heard. The future of journalism is a mystery, but it would appear that people will always be hungry for the news.