Maurer, the publisher and editor of the St. Ignace News in St. Ignace, Mich. and the Mackinac Island Town Crier, represents an old school style of newspaper journalism that isn’t focused on tweets and web prowess, but more so the content that fills the space between the reader’s thumbs as they hold the paper in front of their face.

“If a reporter is using social media at work, I’d fire ‘em,” Maurer said during a panel on re-thinking the news at the Michigan Press Association’s conference in Grand Rapids, Mich. Jan. 29. “I’ve got a paper to put out.”

Maurer makes the point that some struggling newspapers seem to miss. The number of tweets, the quantity of facebook friends amassed and page impressions recorded are meaningless if the stories don’t mean something.

“It’s about honesty and competency,” Maurer said.

Clearly an applicable mantra to newspapers or any business, striving for excellence in your core production will garner the necessary success. Page views, re-tweets and the facebook friends are a byproduct of quality of one’s craft. College newspapers can and should focus on the same. Tweets are not how to tell the story. Tweets are how to get readers to the story.

Of course, web presence is necessary for collegiate newspapers. The students comprising the majority of the readership have grown accustomed to the web as a primary source. But, whether in print or digital, the quality of the content should be a first priority. The rest is just a delivery.