A growing number of college newspaper are moving to WordPress as a Content Management System. For a time, College Publisher seemed to be the only way a college newspaper could be presented on the web.
Has your paper made a switch in Content Management Systems?
How did it go?
What do you wish you knew before you started?
Show us your site. (Please)
There is a football game just about every weekend from now until Thanksgiving.That means your paper (or online news site) will be devoting quite a bit of space and time to the ol’ pig skin.
So, we want to see your best.
Post a link to what you think is a Touchdown of a football article or column and share briefly what makes it worth six points.
We’re not voting and you don’t win anything, save for the respect of other college journos and some extra hits on your site.
There’s no limit to your sharing. Checking back often is HIGHLY recommended. (as always)
Do some bragging, people!
Hi! My name is Tauhid Chappell and I’m a student at Virginia Tech. I work for Planet Blacksburg, which is a student run, web-only, newspaper that “rivals” (if you can even call it that) the college newspaper on campus.
A lot needs to be done this upcoming semester for my organization. We’re extremely understaffed right now but I hope that a heavy recruitment phase during the first couple of weeks will bring in some fresh talent who are eager in contributing to our site while building their electronic portfolio’s.
As this fall semester creeps closer, how is your newspaper (or online-only newspaper) preparing for the new school year? What roles need to be filled? How are you planning to recruit new writers, editors etc.? What are some obstacles, both new and old, that your organization faces? Will there be any changes that occur come fall?
Hope everyone is excited to return to their respective college!
As I update our web policy, I am reminded of a problem that I’ve run into almost constantly as editor of my campus newspaper: Facebook as a distraction from work.
I’ve considered blocking the site on each newsroom computer except one, where reporters/editors could log on to use the site legitimately. I really don’t want to have to do that though. I’d like to instead enforce a rule that would help curb erroneous or aimless use of the site, especially when other work could be done. There are always press releases to be rewritten and story idea sheets to be written up, etc.
Any suggestions? I’d like to encourage responsible use of the computers rather than acting like a mean babysitter. Just for reference, its the copyeditors/designers and editors themselves who are the biggest offenders.
Our college newspaper has the good fortune of getting a new newsroom built this summer. It’s not a huge space–about 19 x 13 feet–but we can furnish it from scratch. We have some plans, though I’m wondering what we haven’t thought of. What are the most useful elements in your newsroom–anything from furniture to electronics to storage to things on the walls? Thanks in advance.