Describing itself as an "innovative source of news dedicated to serving the University community," the Virginia Sentinel launched its online-only news source October 3 with a story about an Honor Committee report that was released two days prior. The Cavalier Daily, the established student-run newspaper, ran nothing on the report.
Starting a newspaper from scratch has become easier with the advent of the Web and blogger-ish tools like Word Press, but it’s still not a task for the faint of heart. After its initial post, the Sentinel, at www.virginiasentinel.com, is humming along, posting University-related content daily. And while Editor Grayson Lambert made it clear in an interview with The Cav Daily that the new site doesn’t consider itself a direct competitor to the daily broadsheet, it does pose as somewhat of a challenger to The Cav Daily and the weekly Declaration.
 The cartoons of the Virginia Sentinel act as pretty good litmus tests to show its political tilt. |
Compared to The Cav Daily’s website, the Sentinel has a much more open and accessible feel, incorporating blogging features like comments and subject tags instead of news sections. And essentially, that’s what the Sentinel is—a blog, albeit one that is run by a three-person staff and posts contributors’ essays and news stories.
The Sentinel sticks to its professed core values of innovation, utility and professionalism (if not AP style), but after little more than a cursory read it becomes clear that the readership the publication intends to serve is fairly right-wing. Among the police-blotter reposts and news stories straight from press releases are cartoons that act as pretty good political litmus tests.
One is titled "Al Gore and Gold." The cartoon shows a vulture-like Gore clutching an Emmy and Oscar in either hand, Nobel metal hung around his neck. The cutline reads: "Value of gold falls in ’07." In another, a squirrel explains why it’s really dumb for people to feel entitled to health care (it didn’t exist when "rights" were established, or something like that). A third features a trout-like Jimmy Carter and makes a stunningly unfunny joke about torture and his novel.
For a proprietary news source, the Sentinel has got a way to go. For a blog that aggregates news, it’s fairly informative. And one gets the feeling that there are plenty of sympathetic readers lurking around the Grounds to support it.
C-VILLE welcomes news tips from readers. Send them to news@c-ville.com.