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Volume 137, Issue 1

Thursday, January 10, 2018

2

BRINGING THE NEWS TO LIGHT

The Daily Beacon • Thursday, January 10, 2019

DAILY BEACON STAFF AND POLICY INFORMATION EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief: Kylie Hubbard Managing Editor: Tyler Wombles Copy Chief: Paige Greene Campus News Editor: Gabriela Szymanowska City News Editor: Val Lick Sports Editor: Blake Von Hagen Asst. Sports Editor: Will Backus Engagement Editor: Jared Chadwick Digital Producer: Kelsey French Asst. Digital Producer: Elexis Houston Opinons Editor: Margot McClellan Photo Editors: Emily Gowder, Megan Albers Design Editors: Elisa Razak. Grace Atter Production Artists: Lauren Mayo, Emily Gowder, Meliya Evans, Catherine Fei, McLane Zaitz, Jeremiah Pham, Emory Hockett, Meg Kiestler

ADVERTISING/PRODUCTION Advertising Manager: Zenobia Armstrong Media Sales Representatives: Hailie Hensley Advertising Production Artists: Kinsey Johnston

CONTACTS To report a news item, please e-mail editor.news@utdailybeacon.com or call 865-974-2348 To submit a press release, please e-mail pressreleases@utdailybeacon.com To place an ad, please e-mail beaconads@utk.edu or call 865-974-5206 Advertising: (865) 974-5206 beaconads@utk.edu Editor-in-Chief: (865) 974-3226 editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com Main Newsroom: (865) 974-3226 editorinchief@utdailybeacon.com LETTERS POLICY: Letters to the Editor must be exclusive to The Daily Beacon and cannot have been submitted to or published by other media. Letters should not exceed 400 words and can be edited or shortened for space. Letters can also be edited for grammar and typographical errors, and Letters that contain excessive grammatical errors can be rejected for this reason. Anonymous Letters will not be published. Authors should include their full name, mailing address, city of residence, phone number and e-mail address for verification purposes. Letters submitted without this information will not be published. The preferred method to submit a Letter to the Editor is to email the Editor-in-Chief.

CORRECTIONS POLICY: It is the Daily Beacon’s policy to

quickly correct any factual errors and clarify any potentially misleading information. Errors brought to our attention by readers or staff members will be corrected and printed on page two of our publication. To report an error please send as much information as possible about where and when the error occurred to managingeditor@utdailybeacon.com, or call our newsroom at (865) 974-5206.

The Daily Beacon is published by students at The University of Tennessee on Monday and Thursday during the fall and spring semesters. The offices are located at 1345 Circle Park Drive, 11 Communications Building, Knoxville, TN 37996-0314. The newspaper is free on campus and is available via mail subscription for $200/ year or $100/semester. It is also available online at: www.utdailybeacon.com

The Daily Beacon is printed using soy based ink on newsprint containing recycled content, utilizing renewable sources and produced in a sustainable, environmentally responsible manner.

Letter from the Editor: Bringing the news to light We’re here. The first issue of the last semester turned its focus to a neglected website.

As society turns toward a growing digital of the 2018-2019 school year. preference and could care less whether the paper prints or not, we are taking care of our I’m excited. website, social sites and other digital platforms.

This semester is about so much more than This new focus has helped in ways that we never publishing a paper, pushing content to a website thought possible.

From video to photo to written reporting, and passing classes all at the same time. It’s about redefining what we as a staff see The we produced 1,069 written articles, 113 vidDaily Beacon as: it’s Bringing the News to Light. eos and 1,123 photos to go with almost every

By Bringing the News to Light, we are single article this past semester. A lot of people highlighting not just what you need to know checked out our website to view this content; we — Asian scavenger hunts, traffic issues, Vol vic- recorded 694,595 total page views this semester tories — but also what you would never know as well.

To compare this semester to the 2015 fall without us. This includes features on student athletes, unique aspects of campus and things semester, we increased our page views by about 285 percent and found that readers were viewof the like.

Since the mid-90’s, The Daily Beacon has ing four to five articles a visit whereas they read had a website, but it wasn’t until 2016 that the maybe one a visit in 2015. In 2015, we were Beacon was a digital-first format. Prior to 2016, lucky Along with increasing our digital presence, staff members copied and pasted print articles to the site every evening. One student staff we’ve also pushed for more interaction between decided to move the 9 p.m. deadline to three our newsroom and the community. It’s been an Courtesy of Kylie Hubbard rolling deadlines throughout each day. This honor to work closely with campus commuchange allowed for a more consistent stream of nity members like SGA President Ovi Kabir and poured into our organization.

Dena of Students Shea Kidd Houze. We’ve also Our new slogan is branding a changing content to web and social media platforms.

Last year, the Beacon shifted to two print developed relationships off campus with local Beacon that holds one constant as the media days a week — Monday and Thursday — and officials and journalism professionals who have world evolves — Bringing the News to Light.

SPECIAL ISSUES 2019 JAN 17 FEB 4

Student Union Dedication Black History Month

FEB 14

Spring Sports Preview

MAR 7

Views From Rocky Top

MAR 28 APR 8 APR 29

Health, Wellness & Beauty Tour de Knoxville UT Traditions and Legacies

Please continue to support the Daily Beacon. It is by your support alone that this paper publishes twice a week, that we continue to post great content to our site and pay our staff. Over half of the student newspapers across the country are not independent, are not paid and are very small. With your donation, you are supporting not only the Daily Beacon, but the proper education of journalism students heading into the real world.

Please donate here: http://bit.ly/2gqSbFe.

BRINGING THE NEWS TO LIGHT

Thursday, January 10, 2019 • The Daily Beacon

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Von Hagen: Tyler Trent showed us why sports is news, why it still matters Blake Von Hagen Sports Editor

“Stick to sports” and “you write about sports for a career” are classic punchline insults to a sports journalist on social media.

Those jokes — although often repetitive and overused — are usually taken in stride, as is necessary in the industry. However, they bring up an underlying theme that leads to this question: Should sports be talked about like news?

I think most sports journalists would give a resounding “yes” in reply to that conundrum …

But why? Is it because they are biased … Or is it something else?

I’d point to a recent example — one that grabbed the country by its heartstrings — to show why sports really do matter in the news.

Tyler Trent was a student at the University of Purdue, aspiring to be a professional sports writer.

He also lived as a “super fan” of the Boilermakers.

Trent, who died on New Year’s Day, was diagnosed with a cancerous tumor in one of his bones as a 15-year-old in 2014. In early 2018, he became somewhat of an internet sensation for his perseverance and ability to

see the positives in life, despite his terminally ill body.

He formed a relationship with the Purdue football team, traveling to games and serving as an honorary captain multiple times this season. On Oct. 20, Purdue fans changed their “IU sucks” chant (a long-time tradition regardless of who the opponent is) to “cancer sucks” for the Boilermakers game against No. 2 Ohio State.

When Purdue knocked off the Buckeyes, Vice President Mike Pence went to Twitter to talk about how proud he was of Trent for his “courage and faith.”

On Dec. 28, Auburn blew out Purdue 63-14 to end the season in a Music City Bowl that most people will forget. It will go down as a blip on the radar of an everyday news cycle.

However, people won’t forget Tyler Trent — a super fan, a sports journalist and an inspiration — because he changed the way many people view life. Athletes are often seen as unapproachable and bigger than life, but Trent had a hand in changing that narrative.

There’s also a reason no one would dare to tell Trent he should “stick to sports.”

News has its ups and its downs — you could say the same about sports — but it’s the stories like Trent’s which really matter. He spent his final weeks talking with long-time sports journalists like Adrian Wojnarowski, Scott Van

Tyler Trent at the Purdue-Northwestern game on Aug. 30, 2018 at Ross-Ade Stadium.

Photo Courtesy of The Purdue Exponent

Pelt and Dan Dakich.

To them, he became more than a kid who happened to be terminally ill. Trent became a friend and a colleague.

“Though I am in hospice care and have to wake up every morning knowing that the day might be my last, I still have a choice to make,” Trent said in a The News-Press column on Christmas Day 2018. “To make that day the best that it can be … Yet, isn’t that a choice we

all have every day?”

Sure, the average game or the average practice report will never be world-changing news, but Trent showed why sports should really matter and why they should be covered like they are.

Sports bring people together — in the best of times and the worst of times — and that’s the best kind of news there is.

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The Daily Beacon • Thursday, January 10, 2019

BRINGING THE NEWS TO LIGHT

A look back: UT alumni on college journalism Val Lick City News Editor

Sex Week, comment threads and campus controversy — these are just a few of the topics that two UT alumni remember from their time at The Daily Beacon.

But more importantly, they remember what they learned about journalism — and what it means for our school, careers and society.

R.J. Vogt, once a writer and editor at the The Daily Beacon, flew across the world to report in Myanmar. After a year as a reporter and a year as an editor, he returned to the United States because of the country’s growing problems with media censorship.

Now, he writes about Americans’ access to justice for legal news agency Law360.

Claire Dodson , another past writer and editor at the Beacon, traveled to New York for her editing career. After working as an assistant editor for several years at business magazine Fast Company, she moved to Teen Vogue as the Entertainment Editor.

The two 2015 graduates have a lot in common — both Vogt and Dodson worked

their way to prominent media positions.

They both credit their work at The Daily Beacon as providing a foundation for their professional lives.

Dodson, who started writing for The Daily Beacon her freshman year, found herself in an environment where her voice could stand out.

“The Beacon taught me that my work could matter. It was real, and it had real consequences,” Dodson said, recalling comment threads and social media controversies. “That was the best practice in learning that what you say can come back to you.”

Vogt, too, set a foundation for his future career while at The Daily Beacon — especially because of its student-led structure.

“It’s a really good experience to make editorial decisions as a staff without ‘adult’ oversight,” Vogt said.

“It’s a good experience for the real world.”

The Daily Beacon is both student-led and independent, which allowed Vogt, Dodson and the rest of its staff to tackle controversial subjects. Dodson felt that the paper was able to focus on school controversies.

“We could do stories that were risky, we could call out problems with the administration,” Dodson said. “It felt good that we

were doing work that was important — that people were listening to us.”

Vogt, too, was involved with controversial stories. During the temporary defunding of Sex Week, a campus event spotlighting sex education, he wrote an editorial in support of the program. However, Vogt recalled feeling an implicit pressure to shy away from risky topics.

“That can be a challenge, to not steer clear of controversial things and to cover those things,” Vogt said. “It can be very easy to just write about games and student fashion and lectures, but you have to focus on the newsworthy.”

Vogt found no shortage of controversy in Myanmar, where he tried to interpret current issues for an audience unaccustomed to the free press. He believes that journalists should inform their audience by interpreting current events — especially now, when both information and misinformation can be spread at the tap of a screen.

“Nowadays, journalism is about interpreting what’s going on. In a country like Myanmar, where they had no freedom of the press for fifty years, people don’t always know what’s going on,” Vogt said. “It lets the same things happen again. If you don’t have a good foundation for journalism, it’s hard to have a good foundation for democracy.”

Dodson agrees that journalism should monitor public figures. She also pointed out that journalism can interpret culture and society.

“On the broadest level, it’s to hold people accountable and comment on the world.

Something that seems small, like a concert, can say something about the time that we live in and the things that we care about.

Journalism can illuminate those things.”

“On the broadest level, it’s to hold people accountable and comment on the world.

Something that seems small, like a concert, can say something about the time we live in and the things that we care about. Journalism can illuminate those things. things.”

Claire Dodson, Beacon alumna

“It’s a really good experience to make editorial decisions as a staff without ‘adult’ oversight. oversight.”

R.J. Vogt, Beacon alumnus

“The Beacon taught me that my work could matter. It was real, and it could have real consequences.” consequences.

Claire Dodson, Beacon alumna

BRINGING THE NEWS TO LIGHT

Thursday, January 10, 2019 • The Daily Beacon

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Beacon 101: What you need to know about The Daily Beacon Kylie Hubbard Editor-in-Chief

Here’s a tidbit: most of you seem to not know what the heck we do here.

Yeah, I said it.

So here’s a breakdown of how the Daily Beacon and its staff functions and the different, beautiful types of content it produces.

How the Beacon fits into UT The Daily Beacon is the editorially independent student newspaper of the University of Tennessee, and it is written, produced and managed entirely by students. Students from all walks of life participate in the Daily Beacon’s creation and curation.

We publish content pretty much 24/7 on our website and publish a print newspaper Monday and Thursday during the fall and spring semester; it is free of charge.

Advertising is our main financial support, and we lean heavily on the support of our readers.

Since The Daily Beacon is editorially independent of the university, we do not spin stories or write stories in an angle that always paints the university in a positive light. While we each bleed orange and really love this school, we are here to support the student body, and sometimes that means sharing news that makes the university not appear so great.

But we also love to share great things happening on campus and work tirelessly to create relationships across campus that are strong through thick and thin. For most of our editorial staff, working at the Beacon also means creating a strong network of contacts that, quite frankly, save our tails more times than not.

Types of content we produce The Daily Beacon produces a crap ton of content, believe it or not. From video to photo to written reporting, we produced 1,069 written articles, 113 videos and 1,123 photos to go with almost every single article this past semester. A lot of people checked out our website to view this content; we recorded 694,595 total page views last semester as well.

Our typical writing includes coverage of news events on campus and in the community and sports events such football, volleyball, basketball, etc.

Both our sports and news teams work very hard to write previews of events as

well, so the campus community is aware of the ways in which they can become involved in the college community. Both also make an effort to feature outstanding campus members and groups.

The news team also digs deep into problems on campus, including the Asian Scavenger Hunt this past semester. Other investigative pieces include why the sprinklers are on so much, and what happens when you get hit by a UT vehicle. Spoiler: your tuition does not get paid.

Outside of your typical reporting, the Beacon also curates lifestyle pieces including videos on how to DIY a Christmas wreath, reviews of the best new albums and a weekly list of what to watch this week.

We also have a very strong opinions section that works tirelessly to produce content centered around topical subjects and issues on and off campus. This section can also include letters for the editor, letters to the editor and guest columns.

These curations never represent The Daily Beacon’s core values and merely those of the individual writing. We wanted you to know that so much that we even put this disclaimer in every opinions article: “Columns and letters of The Daily Beacon are the views of the individual and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Beacon or the Beacon’s editorial staff.”

So, as an example, when Sports Editor Blake Von Hagen wrote his reasons he didn’t vote, it was merely opinion and merely satirical.

The best way to tell the difference between what is factual and what is opinionated is to look at the way it was posted.

All opinions pieces will be housed under the “Opinions” tab of our website and also will have a little “Opinions” tag on our front page. On our social media, all opinions pieces start with “OPINION:” before the content of the column.

It’s our pleasure to bring you all different types of content.

What we strive to do While we produce this content, we also do much more at The Daily Beacon.

Our editors are equipped with leadership skills out the wazoo following their time at The Daily Beacon. Most editorial positions are filled by the school year, meaning there is a new chance to grow and fill these editorial positions with every new year.

We also strive to teach our reporters and employees proper etiquette with interviewees and with sources in general. This includes how to format an email, what questions to ask depending on the article and how to go about talking to a source.

Employees are also equipped with the knowledge of AP style and given a hands-on opportunity to learn how to work in a newsroom. As an anecdote, I started my first day at an internship at a newspaper and with little instruction was given my first task.

This is something that many fresh journalism graduates have mentioned, so we work to equip our employees with the best newsroom experience as to keep the surprises to a minimum when they work into their first newsroom post-graduation.

Support as the backbone As The Daily Beacon continues to grow, we hope to host more workshops for the journalism school as a whole to help share the knowledge that we see as so vital.

Your support is essentially the backbone of this organization as students learn how to not only navigate but thrive in a newsroom.

Without your support- whether through advertising or constructive criticism- we would not be able to print as we do now.

Over half of the student newspapers across the country are not independent, are not paid and are very small. Please consider

donating at the link on page 2 to not only support the Daily Beacon, but students throughout the Office of Student Media heading into the real world.

“We also love to share great things happening on campus and work tirelessly to create relationships across campus that are strong through thick and thin. For most of our editorial staff, working at the Beacon also means creating a strong network of contacts that, quite frankly, save our tails more times than not. not.”

Kylie Hubbard, Editor-in-Chief

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The Daily Beacon • Thursday, January 10, 2019

BRINGING THE NEWS TO LIGHT

PUZZLES&GAMES

Thursday, January 10, 2019 • The Daily Beacon

LOS ANGELES TIMES CROSSWORD • Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Lewis

STR8TS No. 1234

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For many strategies, hints and tips, visit www.sudokuwiki.org If you like Str8ts, Sudoku and other puzzles, check out our books, iPhone/iPad Apps and much more on our store at www.str8ts.com

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7

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BRINGING THE NEWS TO LIGHT

The Daily Beacon • Thursday, January 10, 2019

‘It changed my life’: Finebaum’s time at UT, The Daily Beacon critical for career Tyler Wombles Managing Editor

Paul Finebaum was under attack.

The SEC Network host and “Voice of the SEC,” then the sports editor at The Daily Beacon and a student at UT, was at a Tennessee football practice when a player, apparently perturbed by Finebaum’s opinions on the team, bounded toward him.

“I had a football player come after me (during) practice one day,” Finebaum said.

“He charged me. Somebody stepped in between them.”

It was one of the more memorable moments Finebaum had while working as a student journalist at UT, years before he would become well-known as an authoritative voice in the SEC and college football realm.

Finebaum’s renown as a sports personality, which is widespread and has only grown throughout the years, doesn’t require much of an introduction.

But his story ultimately begins as a young and inexperienced student at UT and The Daily Beacon, with a lifelong passion yet to be discovered.

Roots in student journalism Finebaum arrived at UT’s campus in the ‘70s, unsure of what to do to fill his time.

That’s when he saw an ad in The Daily Beacon for a reporter.

He inquired about joining the newspaper and was given a simple news story covering “some bus service to campus.”

Finebaum’s work in the assignment, though, soon took a dramatic turn, with him uncovering scandal and payoffs just eight hours into the investigation.

The story put Finebaum on the map at The Daily Beacon. His bosses were impressed by the rookie who had never worked for a newspaper before, even a student-run outlet.

“All of a sudden, I think the newspaper realized, and I realized … I had some ability,” Finebaum said.

He eventually began working in sports and moved up to sports editor of The Daily Beacon, a position he held for two years.

His criticism of teams and coaches incited multiple clashes with athletic personnel; he was once called into the men’s basketball coach’s office, screamed at by the coach and banned from flying with the team to away games, a privilege then allowed to the sports editor of the student newspaper.

Finebaum even faced conflict with legendary women’s basketball coach Pat

Summitt, who was in her early years coaching the Lady Vols during Finebaum’s time at Tennessee.

“It wasn’t so much her … Women’s coverage was still in its infancy, so that was always an issue,” Finebaum said.

His time at The Daily Beacon had a lifelong impact on the budding journalist and political science major.

“It changed my life,” Finebaum said.

“Instead of pursuing probably law, which I was mainly interested in, I said, ‘You know what? I’ll put that on hold.’

“I had the best two years I’ve ever had covering the Vols, and ultimately, I got a job from that.”

From reporter to SEC authority After graduating from UT, Finebaum didn’t have many job offers because of his lack of a journalism degree, but eventually found a job in Shreveport, La, covering teams ranging from the Dallas Cowboys to LSU. He later moved to Birmingham, Ala., where he wrote for the Birmingham PostHerald before making the move into radio and eventually spending 30 years in the city.

“I didn’t think I’d stay there that long, but it turned out really well,” Finebaum said.

Finebaum’s jump to radio was more than profitable for his career; he appeared on multiple shows as a talk host, including hosting the nationally-syndicated Paul Finebaum Radio Network, before eventually signing a deal with ESPN in 2013 to become a part of its new SEC Network.

His current show, “The Paul Finebaum Show,” runs daily and is broadcast not only on the radio, but also on television through The SEC Network; it is also available via podcast. Part of its notoriety is due to its format, which encourages fans from around the SEC to call in with questions or opinions, which Finebaum then responds to himself.

Finebaum has become a staple in ESPN’s college coverage, making regular appearances on numerous shows including SportsCenter and College Gameday. For many, he is the leading authority on college football in the SEC, having also authored several books on the subject.

“I realize when you work at a company like mine, you’re seen by a lot of people,” Finebaum said. “But you take it seriously too. You realize you are affecting people.

You are influencing people.”

Finebaum has garnered multiple awards for his work. He was included on Sports Illustrated’s 2013 Most Powerful People in Sports Media list and has been given an Accomplished Alumni Award by UT. “Finebaum joins a variety of outstanding

Paul Finebaum is a distinguished UT and The Daily Beacon alumni who is known as the “Voice of the SEC.” File / The Daily Beacon alumni who have been featured through the Accomplished Alumni program, including CEOs of major corporations, Olympians, authors, lawyers, musicians, U.S. ambassadors and civic leaders,” a story about Finebaum’s award on UT’s website said.

Looking forward Despite all of his career success, Finebaum’s roots as a student reporter at UT and The Daily Beacon haven’t slipped his mind.

“I’ll never forget how it began, and probably (out) of all the things I’ve done, the thing I really loved doing best was starting out at the school paper and then working for a newspaper,” Finebaum said. “Because that’s really what I always thought I was best at.”

His advice to young reporters? Don’t be satisfied with just a few basic questions when interviewing others, as “sometimes we make the mistake of looking down at our next question, and you miss the best answer you’ll ever hear.”

“I don’t want to sound like some old professor in the classroom by giving you a bunch of clichés, but you can never go wrong by being relentless, by being dogged

in your pursuit of a story,” Finebaum said.

Finebaum also encourages young journalists to be fair in their writing, something he doesn’t feel like he has always done, especially during his time covering sports at UT. “I’ve written some things in my career that I really wish I could do over again,” Finebaum said.

“I don’t think I was being objective, or I don’t think I was being fair,” Finebaum added. “I think being fair minded is an important ingredient of being a really good journalist.”

Finebaum advises keeping in touch with important people and professionals in the career field in order to potentially be remembered in connection with a job opening in the future.

After all, the “Voice of the SEC” remembers his now-famous career’s humble beginnings.

Though now years removed from his tense encounter with the football player at practice that day, the memories live on, just as his legacy at Tennessee and beyond surely will.

“I think you do have a responsibility as you get older, whether successful or not, to try to help,” Finebaum said. “And don’t forget where it all began.”