Stephen Burgard.
Does the name ring a bell?
Didn’t think so.
He’s an Associate Professor and the Director of the Journalism School here at good ole’ NU. For those of you that have him as a professor, you’ll pick up the gist of this rant very quickly and I’m guessing those of you who have to answer to him, will as well. And for those of you who don’t fit into either category — congratulations.
So what’s my problem with Burgard? He is invisible. No, no, that is not true. I see him on campus all the time, and I’m sure he sees me, but nothing registers, just a blank stare.
Last Wednesday is a perfect example. I saw him in the elevator in the Curry Student Center, as one of my colleagues congratulated me on a story I had written, and still he was off in another world.
He has admitted to those on The News staff and in one of his classes, that he does not read the student newspaper.
Oh wait! He did — once. The one time he read the paper was when The News did a profile on him, welcoming him to the university. And the ONE time he called The News office was to request the photo of himself that ran on the front page. Well, isn’t that nice.
Whether he realizes it or not, he is obligated to know who his students are. Alan Schroeder did, as did James Ross, both former directors of the program.
Maybe The Northeastern News, a weekly publication with a circulation of 10,000 is small potatoes for Burgard, after all he did come to NU from The LA Times. But maybe, just maybe, if Steve read The News, he would recognize the bylines of HIS students in other publications, namely The Patriot Ledger and The Boston Globe.
Imagine that Steve, YOUR students doing things beyond the walls of NU. Amazing isn’t it?
And we aren’t just talking about briefs buried in the back of the paper, we’re talking page one stories, we’re talking centerpieces of the Metro front of the Boston Globe and we’re talking sports features dead-center on a page in the Ledger.
I’m talking about Lauren Rouleau, Brendan Reilly, Jack Weiland, Andy Cuneo, Evans Erilus, Emily Werchadlo and even me, the humble Heather Allen. If you could place any of the names to our faces, maybe you’d be impressed, but I’m sure that you are not. Because I’m sure that you still haven’t picked up the paper. The paper that sits in a stack directly in front of the School of Journalism, that I’m sure you pass at LEAST once a day.
Once again, thanks Steve.
For nothing.
– Heather Allen is a middler journalism major and a member of The News staff.
Read Responses to this commentary: In Defense – May 28th Edition. No Tooting your own horn – May 28th Edition.
