PAULINE'S PICKS: University of Florida's Student Paper Covers Tasering Incident

By: Pauline Millard College journalists are an intrepid bunch. Since my days as a writer at The Daily Orange at Syracuse University, (Go Orangemen!) I've always been impressed with the dedication of young journalists. They'll work long into the night to put copy out and they're terribly passionate about their work.

That said, when I learned about University of Florida student Andrew Meyer being tasered at a John Kerry event, and then saw the videos of it, I was shocked. Immediately, I wanted to see how the campus media was handling the story. What angles would they get? Would they be written well?

I was pleased with what I saw on the Web site of the Independent Florida Alligator. Just as the semester is kicking off, the team of young reporters and editors dug right into the story of one of their classmates being unfairly treated for posing a question at the event.

The newspaper has a great story about Meyer, who has been known to stir controversey in the past via editorials in the student newspaper and through his personal Web site. There is also a light piece about another student on campus named Andrew Meyer, who is a quiet engineering student and has had to deal with a flurry of media inquiries and an influx of Facebook friend requests.

There are lots of photos and the coverage is updated as soon as it happens. Each story also has a place where readers can comment, which I always like, since it allow for further discussion, especially in a case like this.

Overall, I say the staff of the Independent Florida Alligator gets an A for thier efforts.

Here are some of my past Picks:

'NYT' Photo Gallery Shows Faces of Iraq War

DenverPost.com Visits a Jailhouse Artist on His Last Full Day Inside

TheTennessean.com Shows Local Environmental Issues

'The St. Petersburg Times' Sheds New Light on Old Murder