UW-Eau Claire students have one more source of campus media to read.

The inaugural issue of The Flip Side, an alternative publication affiliated with the Progressive Student Association and the College Independents, was distributed Wednesday.

The publication, which will be published every other Wednesday will have a press-run of 1,000 copies.

“It’s more of a news magazine right now, but that’s not final,” senior managing editor Jeremy Gragert said. “It’s more like ‘The Nation.’ ”

Junior Joe Gapko questioned why The Flip Side was started after reading the publication.

“I wonder why perhaps The Spectator couldn’t accommodate some of the views of the Flip Side,” he said.

Sophomore Matthew White, the publication’s Web master, said The Flip Side was established, “Because of the fact that we don’t feel that there is a source of really accurate, hard hitting news on this campus.”

White went on to say news from outside campus has been lacking, and the focus of The Spectator is too limited.

To help combat these concerns, White said The Flip Side plans to do some expos‚ articles on world events and provide a voice for political concerns.

Some sections of The Flip Side will include open letters to public figures and a literary review section, White said.

Gragert funded the initial run of The Flip Side, but said he will be reimbursed once advertising revenue starts coming in.

He said The Flip Side has provisional status as a campus organization and will eventually gain official status.

However, Gragert said, it doesn’t plan on using student segregated fees.

It’s important for students to know they can write as much as they would like, he said, as long as it fits The Flip Side’s guidelines for content.

There is no set style for the publication yet, such as The Associated Press style, Gragert said.

Junior Brandon Buchanan, a contributing writer for The Flip Side, said he believes the publication will help campus media improve.

“The theory of competition will allow both papers to rise up,” he said.

The new publication will allow more students to get involved with campus media, Gragert said.

“With The Spectator, it doesn’t seem like everyone can get involved as well,” he said. “The media should be for everybody, and they should feel like they can be a part of it.”

Gragert said the publication will take whatever form students want it to.

“It is whatever people write about,” he said. “What it is right now is mostly editorial.”

Gragert added that news articles published from sources such as The Economist and The New York Times have provided back-up material to many of the articles published.

Gapko said he still has some reservations about The Flip Side.

“My only one fear for The Flip Side is I don’t want ideology to be the formulating factor on a paper,” he said. “From what I’ve read, it doesn’t seem to be especially slanted, but it’s one thing that I would worry about.”

Gragert said he believes the publication will improve with upcoming issues.

White is also positive about the future of The Flip Side.

“We’re moving up,” he said. “I really strongly feel that we are gaining momentum.”