A new look

Monday, November 2, 1998

A new look

MEDIA: The student

newsmagazines changed their size and style, but they’ve kept the
independent spirit that defined them in the past

By Pauline Vu

Daily Bruin Contributor

Before the late 1960s, The Daily Bruin was UCLA’s only student
newspaper.

However, in the midst of that turbulent decade’s outbreaks of
student activism, a new voice sprung up, soon to be followed by
several others.

The UCLA newsmagazines were initially conceived as a response to
a perceived lack of coverage by The Bruin of issues pertinent to
minority communities.

"Newsmagazines target a specific group and talk about issues
that face the different communities," said Arif Shaikh, editor of
Al-Talib.

The seven newsmagazines — Nommo, La Gente, Ha’am, Fem, Pacific
Ties, Ten Percent and Al-Talib ­ span a variety of cultures
and issues.

Nommo, which serves the African American community, was created
in 1968 and was the first alternative newsmagazine at UCLA.

"At that time there was a lot of student activism, and the Daily
Bruin wasn’t doing a sufficient job covering minorities," said
Terelle Jerricks, Nommo’s editor.

Although the idea of an alternative newsmagazine was initially
met with resistance, the Black Student Union continued to pressure
the ASUCLA Communications Board, and with the backing of Chancellor
Young, was able to get a resolution passed for its own
newsmagazine.

Nommo then became one of the first college alternative
newsmagazines in the country.

La Gente, which focuses on the Latino community, quickly
followed suit two years later with the backing of Movimiento
Estudiantil Chicano/a de Aztlan, a Chicano/Latino student group on
campus.

The next magazine created was Ha’am, which was also met with
some resistance. The first issue of Ha’am reflected on the struggle
organizers had gone through to get the paper started.

"I guess they felt Jews didn’t need a voice," said Rebecca
Blustein, editor of Ha’am.

Together, the feminist magazine, premiered in 1974. It was later
renamed Fem.

"’Together’ was more passive. ‘Fem’ was thought to be more
active and political," said Maryam Baqi, Fem’s current editor.

Pacific Ties was created in 1976, along with the Asian American
Studies Center for the Pacific Asian American community, and Ten
Percent in 1980 for the gay, lesbian and bisexual community.

The last newsmagazine to be created was Al-Talib, which is aimed
at UCLA’s Muslim community. It was created in 1990 after some
initial hesitation on the part of the Communications Board.

"(The Board) was wondering if it could represent the Muslim
community without talking about religious aspects," said Ahmed
Shama, Al-Talib’s former editor .

Ten Percent,the newsmagazine that focuses on gays and lesbians,
currently lacks an editor. With people applying for the position,
however, it might run issues in the winter and spring quarters.

According to Arvli Ward, the student media director, UCLA is
unique in its newsmagazine program.

"UCLA is a progressive place. Other schools have newsmagazines,
but not as many and not as old," he said.

This year, the newsmagazines are changing their look and
frequency. Instead of the tabloid-style newspaper they’ve always
had, the newsmagazines ­ with the exception of Al-Talib ­
will now grace a magazine-like format.

Nommo and Ha’am are so far the only newsmagazines to publish
issues with the new style.

"I decided to go with it because we needed a change," Jerricks
said, "Overall, the response has been very positive. People like
the glossy cover and layout style."

Blustein is also enthusiastic about the new layout.

"I’ve had a lot of positive feedback. People enjoy the articles
and the design," she said.

Al-Talib will retain its previous layout and size, and continue
to run two issues a quarter, instead of one issue like the other
newsmagazines.

"Al-Talib has a certain look, and we wanted to maintain the
Al-Talib look," Shaikh said. To change to the new format, he added,
would make Al-Talib "like any other magazine cover."

Al-Talib is wildly successful in terms of readership. The
youngest UCLA newsmagazine, it is now also the largest, with a
circulation of over 20,000.

It has also gone national, with the majority of issues
distributed outside of Los Angeles to cities like Boston, New York
and Chicago.

"It’s exceeded all our expectations, and it’s ranked with
professional-run Muslim magazines," Shama said.

While Al-Talib wants to change little about itself, some of the
other magazines have taken the new format as a chance to take on a
new tone.

Fem, which focused on the education of the feminist movement in
the past, wants to focus more now on its applicability to the
average student and everyday life.

"Feminism is relevant to both men and women. We want to show
feminism is more than burning bras and going to rallies," Baqi
said.

Ha’am is also changing, and has taken on a decidedly lighter
tone this year. The cover of Ha’am’s October issue featured Adam
Yauch of the Beastie Boys and actress Winona Ryder.

"The issues picked up faster than ever before," Blustein said.
"One person came up to me and said, ‘Now it’s cool to be
Jewish.’"

La Gente, yet to be published, is eager to print in the new
style.

"Our audience is mostly college and high school students.
(These) people would rather read a magazine than a newspaper. It’s
more youthful," said Sandra Cano, La Gente’s editor.

There are divided views about whether or not the new magazine
focus is necessarily better.

Joshua Atlas, a second-year Jewish undeclared student, said
Ha’am’s new format, though nicer, doesn’t affect him either way. He
is indecisive about the new tone, however.

"There are all these random facts here and I thought, ‘where the
hell did this come from?’" Atlas said, flipping through one
issue.

"There’s more stuff and a wider variety of issues, but it has
lost a bit of its seriousness. It’d be nice if it had a balance
with what it used to be," he added.

No matter what their content, the newsmagazine editors all agree
on their importance to the diversity of this campus.

"The more media there are, the more opinions and perspectives.
It’s better, especially at the university at this time, with
affirmative action taken away and ethnic studies in question," said
Vy Nguyen, editor of Pac Ties.

Ward agreed.

"Freedom of press means more than saying what you want to say,"
he said. "You have to have access too, and the newsmagazines have
very important roles in the community they cover."Nommo and Ha’am
are two of the six campus newsmagazines that have switched to the
new, smaller-format

publishing style.

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