Every Friday, the staff members of The Tower, Catholic University’s student newspaper, publish 2,000 printed copies of their newspaper, and current Editor-in-Chief Antoinette Cea said those numbers may increase next semester. However, earlier this summer, debates surfaced regarding printing The Tower at all.
Cea said that The Tower’s former Editor-in-Chief Erica Prenda discussed the possibility of moving entirely online, but Cea fought hard for the weekly printed edition. In 2001, the Tower printed 5,000 copies, and while less than half of that number of papers hit the stands today, Cea said students still read nearly all of the copies.
“We thought of completely getting rid of the paper, but I didn’t want to do that. It was a personal decision,” Cea said. “You still can get [the paper] anywhere on campus, and while all 2,000 are read, our numbers online are much higher. It’s easier for students.”
The Tower runs Twitter and Facebook accounts as well, and Cea said that she spent the first part of the semester developing new social media pages along with a new website because the passwords to the old accounts became lost during editor transitions. She said she tries to tweet often, but the strongest social media activity comes from students posting and re-posting articles from The Tower on Facebook.
Completely independent from the University, The Tower raises all of its own funds through advertising, and Cea said her business manager deserves credit for helping the paper balance its budget. She said that the paper has previously considered moving towards receiving University funds, but she takes great pride in the independent tradition of The Tower and the foundation of student editorial control.
Catholic University’s roots as a religious and conservative campus also further justify the need for editorial freedom, according to Cea. Last year, university administrators cancelled the showing of 'Milk,' a film based on the based on the journey of a gay politician, and this decision received immediate media attention in The Tower, despite the issue’s controversial nature.
“When we covered the 'Milk' cancellation, people were upset that we even talked about that,” Cea said. “When we criticized an Evangelical society event, there were protesters, so we covered it. We don’t want anyone telling us what we can’t print.”
While The Tower tackled major local and campus events this year, including a visit from Pope Francis and a recent gun scare, the student paper also provides some humorous articles through a weekly witty column written by a contributing “ghost” writer. According to Cea, Morpheus, the name of the weekly column, started out as a gossip column that ran every year until the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. The series re-continued from 1950-1970, but Cea said she wanted to bring back The Tower tradition of Morpheus during her tenure. She reached out to different academic department at Catholic for help in contacting “Morpheus” but never heard back; however, she later received an email from an unknown source that simply read, “I’m here.” Every week, Cea receives an anonymous note from someone on campus, “Morpheus,” who comments on the news, upcoming events and CUA culture. Cea said she has suspicions about the person behind the emails but has chosen not to investigate the matter because students and staff enjoy the weekly mystery.
“He’s kind of like a ghost. People love him. [He’s] witty, [he] speak[s] in an old timely fashion, I look forward to it,” Cea said. “He emails a few times a week, usually Wednesday. We have some speculation of who he is based on his knowledge of campus, but no one wants to let the cat out of the bag.”
Cea’s tenure ends at the end of the Fall 2015 semester, but she looks forward to the future of student media, despite her fears that printed papers may disappear in the near future.
“Take everything you see on Twitter with a grain of salt,” Cea said. “Newspapers have a standard. We have to abide by a certain standard in delivering efficient news. When we publish something we do our research, we talk to people, we talk to students and gain perspective. I think that people should take more interest in their newspaper.”