Operating a student-run news outlet is no easy task. In a typical year, the students who worked at these outlets juggled breaking news, social media platforms, a print product and an ever-changing media landscape with the day-to-day regularities of college life. Now, however, journalists at student-run outlets can no longer just focus on ledes, leadership and lectures. The coronavirus pandemic has added a new layer to student journalism, complicating everything from a staff’s reporting and editing to interpersonal dynamics. As student-run outlets feel the brunt of the pandemic, the leaders of these outlets face difficult decisions in navigating their staffs through a global phenomenon that modern journalism has never experienced. The past year has brought changes — both positive and negative — to student-run outlets across the country. The pandemic has uprooted “normal” expectations for a staff’s reporting and editing, morale and mental health, and digital and print approaches. This thesis illustrates how student news outlets have adapted to the pandemic — as well as student journalists’ tenacity to continue reporting the news amid weighty circumstances.
