Just as NMU classes moved to remote delivery options in response to the COVID-19 outbreak, NMU's weekly student newspaper, The North Wind, had to forgo its print edition and adapt to an online-only format.
“To the best of my knowledge, this is the first time printing of The North Wind has been suspended,” said editor-in-chief Isabelle Tavares.
The North Wind is typically distributed on campus and in the Marquette community. With Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's executive orders and associated campus policies, more than half of The North Wind's distribution locations no longer exist, Tavares said.
However, The North Wind remains dedicated to posting articles and columns on its website, as well as social media channels Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
“Since a large portion of our readers are online already, I felt comfortable cutting print for this period because I knew the news would still be accessible,” said Tavares. “Plus, we didn't want to encourage people to leave their homes and grab the paper. It would be hypocritical of us to editorialize on the importance of quarantining and social distancing, but tempt readers to break that by picking up a physical copy and potentially spread the virus further.”
Traditionally, North Wind editors and writers meet on Friday to discuss and assign articles. The articles are written over the weekend and looked at by copy editors, desk editors, the editor-in-chief and the journalistic adviser. On Wednesday, all editors meet for production for about eight hours to produce the paper. Though in-person meetings have been suspended, North Wind staff members have been able to continue their duties through campus resources and online applications.
“We will print another day, but for the time being, measures had to be taken to commit to quarantining,” said Tavares.