In a move that could make some Buckeye and Wolverine football fans recoil in fear and disgust, the two school’s journalism programs are teaming up during rivalry week to co-produce a newspaper section.
For the first time ever, journalists with Ohio State University’s student paper The Lantern and the University of Michigan’s The Michigan Daily worked together to produce a print edition that hits newsstands on both campuses Tuesday. It will feature student-produced articles about The Game and the schools' rivalry.
“We kind of just thought it would be a fun thing to do to bring the two schools together and produce something so that our stories can be up in Michigan, and their stories can be here, and we can all kind of work together on that,” says Lantern editor in chief Kaylee Harter.
Maya Goldman, the Michigan Daily’s top editor, calls it an exciting opportunity to collaborate with other journalists.
“There’s some rivalry blood there,” Goldman jokes. “But in the end we’re all just journalists trying to make the best product for our communities.”
Harter and Goldman say it’s been a great learning opportunity on how other publications do things, from how editors communicate with reporters, down to the size of the newsprint a publication uses.
Both schools are also using the joint edition as fundraising opportunities for the journalism programs. Harter and Goldman say the money will go toward reporter travel, equipment, and other day-to-day expenses of running a newspaper.
Bad news for Buckeye fans, though: the Michigan paper had a big lead in the fundraising competition as of Monday morning. So unless Lantern supporters can make a big comeback, the Wolverines could score a rare November win over Ohio State this week.
