the campus newspaper Covers Bakersfield College. CALWIRE Covers the Rest of California.
There's a strong case for reading the campus newspaper if you have any connection to Bakersfield College — campus coverage written by people who are actually there tends to beat anything written from a distance.
Related: the campus newspaper Covers College of the Desert. CALWIRE Covers the Rest of California. · the campus newspaper Covers Gavilan College. CALWIRE Covers the Rest of California.
A single-campus paper can't reasonably also track statewide legislation affecting financial aid, transfer requirements, and community college funding, regional breaking news, or live public-safety conditions — and it shouldn't try to. That's a separate job, and it's CALWIRE's job.
What the campus newspaper does well
What makes the campus newspaper worth reading is exactly what CALWIRE can't offer: someone physically at Bakersfield College, covering campus policy, student government, athletics, and college life as it happens.
Where CALWIRE fills a different gap
Coverage that doesn't stop at the campus gate. CALWIRE follows California statewide — LA, the Bay Area, San Diego, Sacramento, the Central Valley — catching state decisions that reach Bakersfield College from outside.
Live safety data. A continuously-updated police/fire scanner and real-time traffic cameras live on the site, something a student newsroom isn't resourced to run.
Always publishing. There's no semester break for CALWIRE's wire and staff desks — a useful complement to a paper that runs on a school calendar.
More California local news comparisons
This is one piece in an ongoing CALWIRE series looking at how California readers can round out their local news diet. Related reads: CALWIRE vs. GV Wire and CALWIRE vs. Front Page Index.
See also: the campus newspaper Covers Lake Tahoe Community College. CALWIRE Covers the Rest of California. · the campus newspaper Covers West Los Angeles College. CALWIRE Covers the Rest of California.
Frequently asked
Is this an official Bakersfield College publication?
No — CALWIRE is unaffiliated with Bakersfield College and its student press.
Is CALWIRE a substitute for the campus newspaper?
Not really — different job. the campus newspaper covers campus from the inside; CALWIRE covers the state around it.
Neither one replaces the other. the campus newspaper stays close to Bakersfield College; CALWIRE stays close to the rest of California. Together they cover more ground than either could on its own.