Students and advisers can now register online for the fall National College Media Convention Oct. 27-31 in Louisville. Which means you can also register for the Main Street Stories multimedia workshop we’re putting on during the course of the weekend. Details on the workshop are available here. For more details about the convention, download the registration booklet (PDF)
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 College Media Advisers, Inc. Read more here. Contact the primary blog author at scmurley -at- gmail.com.  |
Update: Damon Kiesow responds at Poynter (see below). Apple held their fall product announcement event yesterday. The iPod lineup got a complete makeover. The biggest announcement from a journalistic perspective – hands down – was the addition of video/still cameras to the iPod Touch. While the Droid X and other Android phones duke it out with the iPhone for supremacy in terms of mobile phones, the iPod Touch has languished in development until now. The addition of the HD cameras (both front and rear-facing) make it perfect for a journalist on the go who either doesn’t want to pay a monthly surcharge for data rates on a mobile plan, or doesn’t want to switch providers because of Apple’s AT&T exclusivity. The downside, of course, is that the cost of the iPod Touch went up a bit. The new features will be useful for students at the University of Missouri and other j-schools who are “required” to purchase one. Engadget has a hands-on review of the new iPod Touch. Update with comment: Kiesow notes the paltry quality of the back still camera and lack of GPS on the new iPod Touch:
These are certainly valid points. I suppose I’m seeing more of an attraction for college journalists who lack the resources to pay for a full-featured iPhone + mobile plan (or young journalists just starting out who would like to eat more than Ramen noodles on a beginning salary). As Damon mentions, the GPS issue is less mission-critical for actual news gathering. And, I imagine the camera will be upgraded in future editions (hopefully). 
Okay, so it’s not technically a student media site, but the SPLC does a lot of good for high school and college media outlets. On Aug. 25, they unveiled a new version of their website: Frank LoMonte, in an e-mail to CMA’s listserv, listed some new features:
The Daily Bruin just launched a new version of their site now using the Gryphon CMS from DetroitSoftworks. Here’s the new design:
Here’s a screencap from Aug. 31, right before the switch:
And here’s an ancient screen cap from 2007 (file image):
Len Witt, who heads the CSJ, mentions that there are a few student scholarships available to reduce costs to $14.99 instead of the full $69. The digital age has provided a host of challenges to traditional legal concepts of privacy, libel, copyright, etc. This looks to be a good overview of the subject.  Jim Killam sends along word about the redesign of the Northern Star at Northern Illinois. Here’s the new look:
And here’s what the site looked like a couple of years ago (most recent version I have):
In addition to the redesign, the Northern Star is now using TownNews as a CMS. Previously, they had a homegrown CMS solution. Onward State is an online-only publication for Penn State. Publisher Davis Shaver sends along news of their redesign for the new school year. “Major new features include community posting capabilities, community member profiles, and topic pages,” Shaver wrote in an e-mail. Here’s the old design:
And here’s the new design:
More news above the fold, more graphics, and a lighter color scheme, along with the features mentioned above.  The Lee Clarion of Lee University redesigned over the summer. Kevin Trowbridge said it was redesigned for the first time since the site went online in 2008. Here’s the old design:
Here’s the new design:
Lighter flag, larger dominant art, more white space overall.  New school year, new site designs. Over the next couple of weeks, I’ll be sharing screenshots of some of the online college news sites that have put on a new coat of digital pixie dust. If your media outlet has redesigned the web presence over the summer, drop me an e-mail at scmurley -at- gmail.com to be included in the coverage. First up in the box, the Boise State Arbiter. The Arbiter last redesigned when they moved off the College Publisher CMS in 2009. Here’s the earlier redesign:
And here’s the new redesign:
The new design looks clean. Fewer rounded corners, a little less blue, and I like that they’ve pushed more news to the top of the page with the addition of the middle rail of stories, while also focusing more attention on the main photo carousel as well. What do you think? Feel free to comment below. 
Choose Your Multimedia Tools Strategically: Story is Still King, Marc Cooper: “New multimedia tools, now reproducing themselves exponentially, provide reporters and editors with sometimes awe-inspiring ways to tell our stories. Learning to master these tools and when to choose them, however, can be as important as which tool a surgeon requests for a certain procedure in the compressed atmosphere of an OR. Journalism Warning Labels, Tom Scott: Humorous, but true. (via Doug Fisher). A fresh look at reporting skills, Mindy McAdams: asking the question: what skills should a reporter know? Matt Thompson at the Argo Project: A quality series of posts like “A blogger’s morning ritual: 5 points to keep in mind,” and “A quick tip on hyperlinks.” Peruse the whole series. Master the Art of Low-Effort Cooking, lifehacker: Who knew a rice cooker could be so useful? Apparently, Roger Ebert. Catharsis, David McRaney: Apparently, blowing up and venting your frustrations will not help you relieve stress, but actually makes behavior worse over time. Perhaps something to keep in mind in the newsroom. (via Lifehacker). The Web is Dead, Long Live the Internet, Chris Anderson: Wired’s editor and Michael Wolff troll for page views on a Web site and in a dead-tree magazine. Oh, irony. 60 ways to increase your influence online, Sam Rosen: Advice from some pretty well-known online types. |
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