For many years, the Daily Cardinal Alumni Association has provided journalism training to members of the Daily Cardinal staff. For the last eight years, training sessions conducted by professional journalists have been held in the Cardinal office in the basement of Vilas Communications Hall during the fall and spring semesters.  Volunteer trainers have appeared in person or via Skype mostly on Sunday afternoons to hold seminars for the editorial and business staffs. 

Occasionally, students take advantage of training that is held in the newsroom of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, and four current staffers made that 80-mile trip east in April for a full day of observing professional journalists at work. 

Here's a glimpse of how such a training day works:

The four Cardinal staffers -- Editor-in-Chief  Madeline Heim , Managing Editor  Andrew Bahl , Associate Editor Lulu de Vogel and incoming EIC  Sammy Gibbons --  skipped some classes on a weekday and arrived at the offices of the Journal Sentinel at 8 a.m. DCAA Board member  Jim Nelson , who is a reporter and an editor in the newsroom, lined up several of the top newsroom professionals in various fields of journalism to help train the students.

Journal Sentinel Interactive producer/ designer Erin Caughey shows how an online news page can be enhanced with special coding.

• Commercial real estate and development reporter Tom Daykin provided tips on how to start the day by finding news tips buried in government agendas.
• Pulitzer Prize winner Mark Johnson talked about the enthusiasm he feels when he gets the perfect interview of insight and knowledge that leads to a ground-breaking story.
• Raquel Rutledge, Pulitzer Prize winner, emphasized the ability of a reporter to be curious, even over something as mundane as a car repair, which led to her major piece about a lack of fuel inspections.
• Business reporter Sarah Hauer provided tips on how a young reporter can start building sources and carving out a new beat.
• Greg Borowski, deputy editor for news and investigations, outlined the process of getting a series of stories ready for publication and how to make that process succeed by involving all stakeholders.
• Director of photography Berford Gammon provided examples of what to look for in judging photos for their news value and accuracy, and how attention to all elements in a photo helps to spot errors.
• Investigations, entertainment and news online producer Erin Caugheyshowed the Cardinal staffers the importance of learning coding and how using it can improve the visual images on a page and better emphasize the paper's reporting.
• Deputy editor/ digital engagement John Adams emphasized the power of analytics and data that the newspaper uses to drive readership.
• PolitiFact Wisconsin reporter Tom Kertscher talked about the value of fact-checking and holding the powerful accountable.
• The group even got a chance to go outside the newsroom to view a demonstration by Nelson and photo and video editor Mike De Sisti on how to fly a drone and the flight rules one must follow.

DCAA Board member Jim Nelson (from left), Journal Sentinel photo and video editor Mike De Sisti, and Daily Cardinal staffers Andrew Bahl, Lulu de Vogel, Madeline Heim and Sammy Gibbons watch a demonstration of how to fly a drone while taking video and still photos of the new Milwaukee Bucks arena.

Journal Sentinel Editor  George Stanley  gave his blessing to the entire day of training.  After the eight-hour training session, the four Cardinal staffers headed back to Madison exhausted but enthused about the profession they might be choosing.

In our next newsletter we will share reactions to the day from Andrew, Madeline, and Sammy. 

--Reported by Mike Juley

Last month, on the Cardinal's 126th birthday, the DCAA launched a campaign to rally alumni to support the paper's future. The current Cardinal staff have asked us to take a major role in funding the paper's general operations.

Their advertising base has disappeared as downtown Madison gentrifies, and national print ads are few and far between. The University no longer advertises in the paper at all. The Cardinal has made cuts but can't sustain any more without endangering its independence and its mission. They're asking us for help. 

The DCAA set our initial goal at $24,000, the highest we've ever had for an annual campaign, and to date alumni have contributed more than half that amount, $14,500. With the 24 recurring monthly donations, an additional $2,300 is pledge through the end of 2018. The smallest donation is just $5 per month; the largest a one-time gift of $5,000. 

If the 3,200 people receiving this newsletter contributed $5 a month, the Cardinal would be more than capable of continuing to provide great journalism for years to come.

The people who care about the Cardinal, who remember time there fondly and frequently, have decided to stand up to ensure future generations of Cardinal staffers get the same chance to experience what they did and find a mission on campus. 

We need an additional $10,000 to make this year's campaign a success and write the Cardinal a journalism story that ends happily -- because it doesn't end at all.

Contribute here today.

Jeff Greenfield '64 will lead a panel discussion "The State of the Fourth Estate" along with other notable Cardinal alumns David Maraniss '71, Lowell Bergman '66, and Walt Bogdanich '75 as part of the Madison Reunion, a  three-day weekend of live music performances, film, art and 32 panel discussions.

The conference portion with the panel discussions is sold out, but other events around Madison are open to the public. The weekend is the brainchild of longtime Madison residents Ben and Judy Sidran. Visit http://www.madisonreunion.com/ for complete details.

From the Archives

Each month, we'll take a look back through the   Cardinal  archives and hig hlight a story from that month. This month we look back at discussion in Vol. LX, No. 134 on May 9, 1951, concerning oversight of police methods on campus. The topic of the role of police in society is never too far from the headlines.

"Statements in the report say it is the 'result of a desire ... to aid in solving the problems of the police force by constructive proposals rather than by attacks on individuals or the use of adverse publicity.' 

The primary function of a university police force should be to educate. Its functions should emphasize prevent rather than punitive measures. Above all, it should recognize that university police problems are of a unique character, and cannot be regarded as those dealt with by police in society as a whole."

The University of Wisconsin Digital Collections has digitized a selection of Daily Cardinal archives. Please contact Bill Swislow or Anthony Sansone to learn more about how you can help get the entire archive online.