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.

Thanks.

So the problem is less financial dependence and more incompetence. I acknowledge that. At the same time, I was just elected EIC, and so I have to clean up this mess. I’m learning about contingency funding and deals we might make with our publisher. But I was hoping to benefit from your advice and expertise. I apologize for not being able to be more specific. Thanks for any and all help.

Thank you!

you can email me at kellis3@ucmerced.edu

As editors and staff move on to whatever is next and leadership roles are filled by new people there is a passing of information.

A lot of what you’ll be doing will stay the same. A lot of what you do will get better. A lot of what you do won’t be fully appreciated by your readers, but we the inky-fingered members of collegiate newspapers are a unique militia of information.

Older and Experiecned Staffers: this is a good time to put that last little tid-bit out there for the newbies to learn.

Younger Inexperienced Staffers: this is a good time to ask some questions.

And we’re not going anywhere.

So leave your thoughts as comments to this post.

(Also, tell your staff, all of them, to sign up for College Newsroom. We’d appreciate, seeing as we’re not much without our members!)

I personally like the feel, look, and flexibility of designing broadsheet pages. But we’re also really understaffed, and have just enough content to print a 20 page tabloid weekly.

Has anybody moved from tabloid to broadsheet? What were some problems you encountered? How did you change ad rates? Was it worth it?

For those who don’t know UC Merced is only 5 years old same for Prodigy. So many of us here are kind of making this up as we go.  me recent events have made me want to set up some guidelines for doing things. We don’t have a governing document right now, so I am wondering what you all use and if I can have a look at yours I be happy.  Sfaff manual, constitution, bi-laws, etc. Thanks.

To say the least, browsing the web has become quite a different experience. We’ve reached a day where we don’t think twice to pull out our cellphones to look up a quick piece of information. “Oh, I’ll just Google that,” or “let me check Wikipedia.” We can do this in the blink of an eye and a finger tap of a screen.

But where does that put us, the college newspapers of today. Many of our papers are just now getting online. Others are just now joining the social media craze. But how many of us have mobile versions of our web site?

Gladly, I can say that my college newspaper, The Ferris State Torch, does. This past year, after getting on the WordPress bandwagon, we have also pushed all of our content to a mobile friendly version of the site. It automatically detects what type of phone you’re browsing from, and even gives you the option to switch to the full version of the site. Commenting, search, categories, and even tags are all available and easy to use.

Sounds like a lot of work, right? Wrong. Thanks to WordPress having thousands of plugins available, we found one that is truly amazing for mobile publishing: WPtouch. After installing and activating the plugin, our site was ready for mobile viewers. The screenshot above shows a preview of our mobile edition.

What other benefits are there from adding a mobile version? Mobile doesn’t just mean phone anymore. With the recent rise of the iPod Touch (I see these all over my campus), there is a whole new market of college students to tend to. You want to be able to provide them with an easy, and fast, experience of your newspaper’s web site. The easier and faster it is for them, the longer they spend on your site and the more content they read.

However, setting up a mobile site isn’t enough. You have to promote it. Show an image on your regular web site, something along the lines of “be sure to visit our mobile site”. Heck, you could even put up an image of an iPhone, Pre, Blackberry, to help promote your newly found mobility. Run a house-ad in your print edition. Odds are, a lot of your readers aren’t sitting in front of a computer when they’re reading the paper, but I bet they have their cellphones on them.

With how quickly the web is changing, it’s not a bad idea to keep up with the trends. Who knows, maybe mobile will become the next big thing.

For more info on WPtouch, and how to integrate it with your WordPress-based online newspaper, visit the WPtouch web site.

You’re in college. If someone doesn’t respond to your e-mail, call their office. Leave a few messages. I am not holding your hand while you cry about not getting a couple of sources. I can tell you where to go, but I have then handed responsibility to you. I can help where I can, but I will not schedule interviews for you.

Alternatively, do what I did and go for op-ed. That way, no one cares if you interview someone or not.