Toronto Star to be free in residences

Starting today, students will be able to pick up The Toronto Star — free of charge — at five different residence locations, including Victoria Hall, Gordon-Brockington, Jean Royce Hall, Waldron Tower and Ban Righ.

After successfully establishing York University as a pilot location for a university readership program last year, The Star decided to expand the free newspaper distribution plan to all interested schools in Ontario.

While Toronto Star Circulation and Marketing Manager Bill Whitfield admits that the program is aimed at encouraging students to read The Star before adult habits of reading other newspapers develop, he explains that it is also intended to keep people reading news in general. “It’s been a concern in the newspaper industry for many years that newspaper readership is slipping and its been a belief that one of the places that we can introduce newspapers to people to develop lifelong patterns is in universities.”

In addition to The Star, the residences will have places to display competing newspapers such as The Globe and Mail and The National Post as well as campus publications, such as The Journal and various notices for campus events and activities.

Dean of Student Affairs Bob Crawford, who worked with The Star to facilitate the introduction of the centres, explained the benefits of the initiative to students.

“We think that students staying abreast of the news is a good thing [that] goes along with a university education… Some studies show that it goes along with an increase in all readership.” ArtSci ’04 students, Chelsea Armstrong and David McGinnis, who reside in Brockington House residence, appreciate the readership centres as a convenient way of staying in touch with the outside world.

“I think its always a good idea to have knowledge outside of the strictly academic realm,” says McGinnis.

“I can see how it would be easy to get caught in the university bubble and to become ignorant of what is going on in the outside world,” comments Armstrong.

Armstrong admits that if not for the free newspapers in residence, she would likely not read a national newspaper on a regular basis.

“I would like to think that I would buy one maybe once a week but realistically, I would probably just get one once a month.” The readership program will also incorporate a speakers series, featuring journalists from The Star, and a mentorship program directed at students interested in journalism.

The introductory three-year distribution is expected to expand to other campus buildings this January.

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