Another exciting online publication featuring news specialized for SMU students is Charlie Scott’s The Other Perspective, also known as TOP. Charlie answered some questions for us about himself and creating TOP. If you haven’t already, check out the site at theotherperspective.net.
Tell us a little about yourself.
I’m a junior here at SMU. My major is Journalism and my minor is in Ethics. I’m originally from Charlotte, North Carolina. I’m extremely dyslexic, which is something not too many people know about me. I feel my personal image as Editor-in-chief at The Other Perspective is a bit ironic: a dyslexic guy running a magazine–who would’a thought?
What inspired you to create The Other Perspective?
There are two things:
The first is the less than quality writing I sometimes find in The Daily Campus. During my Freshman year I found some of the reporting in the DC to be atrocious. It seemed, for example, that every event covered by the DC had a happy-go-lucky feel to it. Now I know the DC is trying to be objective in their reporting–that’s why they are a news paper. However, I felt there was never another side being conveyed on whatever was being covered. I didn’t like that and felt something new was needed. That’s when I had the idea for a magazine.
The second is what I found to be the general lack of interesting student writing on our campus. Hilltopics was great while it lasted; but it hasn’t been published in god knows how long, and I doubt it will ever return.
So I guess you could say that my frustration with the DC, coupled with my desire for different point’s of view, is what generated my inspiration for creating The Other Perspective.
What kind of material does the site feature?
Everything from political commentary to ‘other’ unique places to eat or shop around Dallas. We feature content that is considered a different take on what you might get in, say, the DC or DM. We are currently the only active publication on campus that features student art and literature. One thing we take pride in is our excellent entertainment reviews, which cover everything from video games to new album releases. We recently brought two fashion columnists on board, and they’re already doing a phenomenal job covering various fashion events around the area. This semester we’re implementing our much anticipated ‘Social Calendar’. When the calendar is fully functional, SMU students will be able to navigate to that portion of TOP and view a compiled list of social events for each day of that month. It’ll be fully up and running by the start of 2nd semester, so stay tuned!
What is your favorite thing about being Editor-and Chief?
The experience. I don’t make a dime for manning this ship. But the entire team (our staff) earns the experience, and hopefully some highlights on their resume’ in the future as well. It’s humbling to see someone on their Mac scrolling through TOP on a Monday morning as I walk into class or head through Fondren. It means that what we do–at least to a minimal extent–is actually being appreciated by the SMU community. There’s nothing better than that.
What is the biggest challenge of running The Other Perspective?
I’de say the biggest challenge is learning as I go. I created TOP from literally nothing. Our team, the work they put in, everything came from this idea I had for an alternative student magazine. First starting out I had very minimal web design skills and had no idea what WordPress even was. I’ve definitely learned A LOT. Being on the Journalism track also seems to have helped. New challenges seem to present themselves by the hour. I’ve been doing this for almost two years now and so far, I’ve been up to each and every challenge.
What are your goals for the site?