Politically conservative students are now voicing their opinions with the release of the first edition of the new monthly newspaper The Sentinel.
Originally named The Truth, the newspaper was created by students to provide more conservative news on campus and fight the liberal bias of the media.
The two creators, former opinion columnists for The Daily Utah Chronicle, decided to change the name to The Sentinel to better describe what they wanted accomplish, with the name referring to a person who is always on watch for things to happen.
“The name “sentinel’ is more of an inclusive word,” said Gina Nickl, a U alumna and co-creator.
In their manifesto, the staff said The Sentinel will “strive to be a voice of warning” to the U when things aren’t going right and spotlight things that are.
In the manifesto, the creators of the paper said, “There is a lot of good in the world that isn’t given the recognition it deserves. There are many student groups and individual students who are making a positive impact the U and in our community…We want to find the positive and report on it in order to promote it.”
Co-creator and film major Andrew Cengiz said there are difficulties in starting a student newspaper.
“It’s been a really good learning experience figuring out the first issue,” Cengiz said. One of the biggest challenges of the first edition was timeliness, and Cengiz said the most difficult section to address was sports, due to the once-a-month release.
Cengiz and Nickl said they plan to “beef up” their Military section and expand their Religion, Values and Philosophy sections to include people of Muslim and Jewish faiths.
Their main concern, however, is recruiting staff writers, which they plan to do by using the social networking site Facebook and posting fliers around campus. The Sentinel is hiring for several positions.
Although Cengiz and Nickl both were columnists for The Chronicle earlier this year, many of the staff writers are not communication majors and have little experience in journalism.
Charlene Bridge, a staff writer for The Sentinel, said she considers herself conservative, but still attempts to read from both sides.
“The Chronicle is always biased, but I read it anyway,” Bridge said. Bridge got involved with The Sentinel through Facebook and writes spotlights on military veterans. This is her first time writing for a paper.
“I’m (an) anthropology major8212;journalism is not my thing,” Bridge said.
Margaret Barker, a political science major and features editor for The Sentinel, said that though the paper has a slant, it will foster a variety of conservative views and if people choose to write political liberal letters to the editor, it will print them.
Barker said she believes variety is good thing for the U.
“The Sentinel can be a good edition to the campus,” Barker said. “We can be a different choice for students and competition for The Chronicle.”
Published Nov. 19, the paper was distributed on campus on Monday. According to the creators, they have received enough donations to publish another issue. Because the semester is ending soon, the next issue will be published in January.