To put it colloquially, bwah, ha, ha.

[sigma7]

Ever since College Publisher bought New Digital Group (previously Digital Partners) in 2005, campus newspapers that choose not to design and host their own sites have had essentially one company to turn to that would provide those services for free in return for an online ad sharing agreement. After an acquisition the next year by mtvU, the college channel produced by MTV Networks, that service, now dubbed the College Media Network, is part of the media conglomerate Viacom. The company’s latest bid for college readers reflects not only its disappointment in the growth of online ad revenue at campus newspapers but a reliance on corporate tactics that student editors and paid general managers never expected.

The initial reaction this past week was one of shock and betrayal when representatives of mtvU first introduced a network of Web sites called Campus Daily Guides, customized for individual colleges and clearly targeted to the same online audience as college newspaper Web sites. Like other online guides to local happenings — from Google Maps to Citysearch — the sites offer a calendar of events around campus, a directory of bars and restaurants that users can update and similar services. Two components clearly aimed at students include a “Rate My Professors” module for the college, integrated with the popular Web site, as well as links to the latest news ... direct from the college newspaper itself.

(monotone) Wow. What a shocking turn of events. Who could ever have foreseen such a thing.