On what is widely viewed to be a predominantly liberal campus, the UW-Madison College Republicans consider their views to be underrepresented. As a result, members of the group will be putting their own newspaper into publication.
\The newspaper is a response to the leanings of some of the other papers on campus ... we're just looking for an outlet to present news information and opinion to our community and hopefully open dialogue on campus,"" said Nicole Marklein, UW-Madison junior and chair of the College Republicans.
""We're optimistic that it will be well received by at least a substantial portion of the population,"" said Timothy Shea, UW-Madison junior and future managing editor of the yet-unnamed newspaper.
Although most campus Republicans expect the new publication to go off without a major hitch, some are not quite as optimistic.
""It's going to be tough for them on such a liberal campus,"" said Frank Harris, UW-Madison senior and member of the College Republicans.
College Republicans feel the more conservative choice for campus news is falling short on representing the right-wing.
""The one paper that is supposed to be conservative ... really isn't and that's the Badger Herald,"" Harris said.
""The conservative students and alumni bring the Badger Herald into existence,"" said James Danky, a lecturer in the UW-Madison School of Journalism.
""It's [the Republicans' newspaper] really fighting for the same number of eyeballs,"" Danky said in regards to the potential segmentation of the media on campus that could be brought about by the creation of the new conservative paper.
Regardless, College Republicans do not expect to take away from the readership of the two major campus newspapers, Shea said.
In February of next year, the group plans to put this plan into action, publishing the paper either weekly or bi-weekly.
In order to fund the newspaper, according to Shea, College Republicans will be soliciting the help of the Leadership Institute, a conservative training group, to provide start-up funding.
Although the paper will staff mainly Republican writers, the group plans to keep the paper as unbiased as possible.
""The paper will show a Republican side of things when it comes to opinion articles, but the news will remain unbiased,"" Marklein said.
""The impulse to produce media is limitless in Madison,"" Danky said. ""If you are a regular paruser of the racks at the Union, there's a wealth of media there.""
A major goal of the publication: to add to that wealth.
""No matter what, consuming news is never a bad thing,"" Marklein said. ""People should get a broad spectrum of news and opinion.\
