I spend a lot of the time reading student newspapers. My standing Google searches for phrases like “students protested” or “student government” often lead me to them, and I rely on aggregators like the National Student News Service — who themselves rely on student papers — to help me find stuff I don’t discover on my own. When I track down a story through non-student media or via a tip, I always make sure to check out what the relevant student paper has to say on the subject.

I spend a lot of time reading student newspapers, and I’m far from alone. There are hundreds of bloggers on dozens of beats out there scavenging for stories like I do, and for many of them the campus press is invaluable.

So why do so many student newspapers act like their only readers are in the dorms and the dining halls?

When I come across an important student newspaper story, even a piece that serves me up a clear narrative and a bunch of juicy quotes, I’m usually a long way away from being able to adapt that story to my blog. I can expect to have to go through a huge slog of research to figure out what the “SLAC” mentioned in the fourth paragraph is, whether the academic vice president quoted in the sixth is a student or a university officer, and even — and I’m not kidding here — what state the university I want to write about is in.

Now, I recognize that the core audience for a campus paper is its campus. I get that that’s the readership you’re most concerned with serving. I understand that a lot of your ads are local ads, and that me giving you a national audience isn’t necessarily going to win you a bunch of new click-throughs. But I also know that writers like to be read, that editors like their stories to break big, and that if the work you’re doing is important work a broader audience means a greater impact.

And I also know that a story that’s easy for me to write is one I’m more likely to write. I know that I’m more likely to invest my energy in a piece if I’ll be able to put it together quickly from one or two self-contained sources. And I know that there are a lot of bloggers out there who are a lot like me.

Tomorrow: Five simple things student newspaper editors can do to get us bloggers linking to, and writing about, their best work.