For several years now, the ASMSU Readership Program has been providing students with free print copies of some major newspapers. However at last, the program has caught up with the digital age as students can now sign up for free digital access to the New York Times with their MSU emails.
This expansion to the Readership Program came as a result of the work of ASMSU President Lorenzo Santavicca and Vice President for Finance and Operations Jason Barnett.
The digital subscriptions come as a part of ASMSU’s print subscription to the Times.
“We previously met in the last semester with our representative from the New York Times who informed us that for every copy that we order of the paper print edition of the New York Times, we get one digital pass as well,” Santavicca said.
The digital pass gives students access to all of the content that would normally be available online.
This includes “any news article that they want to read, any infographic that they might see in the newspaper, they get access to online,” as Santavicca said.
Also available digitally for students is the “The Buzz: MSU” app. This app gives students access to several newspapers in the USA Today Network.
“[The Buzz MSU] provides content from the New York Times, USA Today, Detroit Free Press, Lansing State Journal and the Financial Times for free to all undergrads,” said Barnett.
Barnett added that this app does more than providing students with news. There are also features that help students connect with campus.
“It’s not just news that this app provides. There’s campus events that you can see on the application,” Barnett said. “We’re always streaming Impact Radio for students who aren’t in a car or don’t have a radio near them, they can stream right from their phone.”
Regarding the importance of a program like this, Santavicca said that he sees it as the responsibility of ASMSU to make sure that students stay informed.
Similar to this, Barnett said that he believe staying informed about the news is especially important for college students.
“Especially as college students, it’s really important to stay informed of things going on," Barnett said. "Not just on campus and in the Lansing area and in the state of Michigan, but also nationally and globally.”
