Alabama Journalists Shed Light on Corrupt Student Politics

By Cole Archer, jcarcher@crimson.ua.edu

AL.com reporters Amy Yurkanin and John Archibald spoke to University of Alabama Journalism and Creative Media students on Tuesday about the university’s “machine” for News Engagement Day.”

The panel discussed Yurkanin and Archibald’s “Greek Gods’ podcast, consisting of four episodes, where they highlight the evolution of the “machine” and its role in the University of Alabama’s Student Government Association.

Archibald’s Personal Experience With the “Machine”

The machine is a group that helps certain SGA members get elected on campus that has existed dating back past Archibald’s time as a student at UA and a member of the Crimson White in the 1980’s.

Archibald says many are confused that a man his age keeps up with a topic like this, but that he believes it “has a profound impact on our politics and our state” and that he views the University of Alabama as “a microcosm of the world.”

“Its amazingly entertaining when you get down and dirty into these stories,” said Archibald.

As a journalism graduate in 1986, Archibald said that he took student government more serious while writing for the school newspaper, reasserting that a “machine” is not that big of a deal in “real life”.

Yurkanin’s Perspective as an Outsider

“Amy, clearly you come into this an objective voice, unlike John who may take this more seriously,” said Chris Roberts, the panel’s host and a journalism professor at UA.

As both a University of Texas and North Carolina alum, Yurkanin has gathered an interest in the machine. She describes her lack of bias as important to help gather objective facts on a podcast that has regional topics such as race and its correlation to SGA.

The SGA was invited the panel meeting but instead declined, a problem similar to many Yurkanin has faced.

“It makes it difficult to confirm stories and rumors that have been around over the years, so there was a lot we had to leave out because it wasn’t confirmed. It’s hard to get an interview with a secret society,” said Yurkanin.