Reflections from the Buzzcave

With production weekend for Buzzsaw Magazine approaching, I have been realizing how many connections from this Independent Media class can be made to my experience with this alternative magazine.

Buzzsaw Magazine is the premier alternative magazine on the Ithaca College Campus. It is independent from the Park School of Communications for funding, but instead goes through Campus Progress, an organization that trains and supports the next generation of young progressive leaders. We also get funding from the Student Government Association. This allows us to have a more critical eye of not only Ithaca College in general, but also our own communications department.

This is the main value of independent media, one that Buzzsaw Magazine also shares: to report on the silences and cover policies of the school with a more critical eye and through a different lens. Buzzsaw was formed by editors of IC's "mainstream" media outlet, the Ithacan, who did not like the way the outlet was run or how they reported stories. Not only does Buzzsaw still do critiques against mainstream media on campus, but it also covers topics and sparks discussions about topics that may not be in the forefront of most students minds. And we cover it extensively. Take the Militarization issue; not only did articles cover many interesting and varying aspects of militarization, but Buzzsaw also hosted a panel on the issue and other events on campus to spark discussion.

But in my opinion, our most important coverage within the past year has been on the Park School of Communications.

Last year, a Buzzsaw Asks Why column, on the subject Park thinking professionals in the field of communications also translates into professor, sparked a lot controversy. The column was an opinion piece, but things got heated when the Dean of the Park School of Communications started defensively commenting online on the piece as well. She ended up writing her own article in response to the column, which we posted on our website. However, it got the administration and students thinking about what constitutes a good professor and why students may be feeling this way.

This year, our coverage of the new media policy enacted by IC has taken center stage. It has been the focus of our newsletter, Haircut, which was distributed to the student body community. However, because we favor advocacy journalism and are independent from the school of communications, Buzzsaw was able to go one step further and formally take a stance on the media policy. There was an official call to repeal the policy signed by all the editors, as well as some staff writers and alumni. The mainstream outlet remained neutral in its official stance.

So as I mentally prepare to head to the Buzzcave (aka the basement of Bogart in a room with no windows) to edit, copy and print another great issue, I feel I have a new found appreciation for the alternative publication I love so dearly, as well as a greater understanding of its importance on the Ithaca College campus.