LSU Student Media advisers have large-scale changes in mind for The Daily Reveille, but before moves are made, the students — the paper’s lifeblood — need to be heard.

Earlier this week when The Advocate broke news of LSU Student Media’s plan to scale back The Daily Reveille’s print frequency, we knew the discussion would happen, but as the students behind the daily, we want a transition that helps students learn, not a rapid fire decision.

But the staff of The Daily Reveille is no stranger to change. Last year, the Reveille was split in two.
LSU Student Media advisers set out to divide the digital and print sections of The Daily Reveille in spring 2014. When student leaders were asked for their opinions, the response was hesitant. But advisers’ minds were made up, and the plan was put into action that fall.
Now, The Daily Reveille faces another change: dropping the “Daily.” This time around, we want our opinions taken into account.
The Daily Reveille will print five issues a week in the fall as usual, but the future of its daily and defining nature is uncertain.

Set in stone, however, is the resistance to scale back from a daily so quickly from the students who produce the paper.

For most students on campus who pay student fees that partially fund LSU Student Media and expect a daily paper, no longer seeing the print edition on stands next to the bus stop or being able to grab a paper outside Middleton Library would be a dismaying blow.
Other students looking for the experience of working in a high-pressure daily newsroom would meet the same disappointment.
Media outlets everywhere see the reality of declining advertising revenues. But, any proposal to scale back publication must consider one important factor: The Daily Reveille is, first and foremost, a teaching tool.
LSU Student Media is not, and should not become, a business. Our revenue streams should be sustainable and support the needs of student journalists, but learning, not business models should take the lead.
When generating revenue and creating marketable products takes precedent over the particular learning environment a daily student newspaper creates, students lose.
For more than a century, The Daily Reveille has given students their journalism start with the necessary and daunting experience of trial and error as reporters, photographers, editors, radio producers, designers and columnists.
The daily routine is not only what makes our university’s paper different, it is what the students who produce it crave.
As editors, we have cut our teeth at The Daily Reveille, and we all started at the paper giddy to learn the ropes in a real newsroom. This experience continues to shape who we are, both as journalists and as individuals. To take that away from the future leaders of our paper could put them at a serious disadvantage in the job market.
For students who choose journalism, their careers will be plagued with similar debates between traditional and online media. If The Daily Reveille operates as the educational tool it was intended to be, then advisers should honor this legacy by giving leaders a stake in a debate they will see again in their careers.
Regardless if Reveillians become journalists when they graduate, working at a daily newspaper will give them an edge others, a reason for future employers to have faith in their work ethic and an ability to report, design and edit day after day.
While the media continues to evolve from its paper origins, part of the learning experience for editors and reporters alike is now on our digital product.
Though many say this is the future of the business, we treat it as our present. 

Reveille editors ensure reporters get the chance to chase breaking news stories and post stories digitally first. Our breaking news battle cry shifted from “change the front page” to “get a link online.”
The Daily Reveille is headed for an online-driven product, but that does not mean the print publication should reduce so rapidly.
There still are conversations to be had about increasing advertising revenue, attracting more readers and, most importantly, how decreasing the print product’s frequency will affect students’ education.
We are not stomping our feet or stuck in the past. We know we have challenges to address.

All we want is a seat at the table when this conversation takes place. Once we have that seat, then serious discussions about the future of LSU Student Media can occur.