Where is the Beacon?

Budget cuts are changing a lot of things at Bethel including the face of news. “The Beacon,” Bethel’s news source, has gone digital – it can now be found online at beacon.bethelcollege.edu, a development that has mixed reactions. “I’ve never even looked at the newspaper online before. I feel like if it was in paper I’d read it. I wish they printed it,” voiced freshman Candace Broadie. “I think that it is difficult for the fact that I can never find it. I spent fifteen minutes looking online for it. I wish they would make it more easily accessed. I wish they would put headlines on the main page or somewhere where I would see it,” expressed freshman Josh Kauzlarich, Over $6,000 is being saved through the online switch. Plus, the whole world’s turning cyber, so it’s best to get with the times right? Well that's what Director of Student Media Tim Ceravolo thinks. “It costs us … $6,000 a year for the newspaper. We used to print out 1200 newspapers and 200 to 300 never got touched,” shared Ceravolo. “I think it’s eco-friendly—two thumbs up,” smiled senior Allie Espe. “I read it more often when it’s online,” said senior Carlie Dunbar. An online source provides the news more quickly, frequently and colorfully. And because it’s new, there’s plenty of opportunity for vision and expansion in the future. “I’d like to see more video-story-telling like TV reporting. More interactive, more multi-platform,” shared Ceravolo. Whatever your opinion, gone are the days of sipping coffee in Sufficient while perusing an off-white copy of campus newsprint. Now what it takes to catch the latest buzz at school are a couple clicks of the mouse and punches of the keyboard.