In April of this year, I posted a checklist of things I thought college media sites should consider. I’m going to reproduce that list here as we all begin the new year. If you so choose, you might want to print out this list and give it to your editor-in-chief. If they are totally dismissive of beefing up the online presence of your campus media, maybe this list will shame them into doing something constructive instead of continuing to live in the 19th century and deny reality. #

So: #

• Have you got your news org. online?
• Do you have a content management system?
• Have you posted any videos online?
• Have you included any audio soundbites in a story?
• Have you done a photo slideshow?
• Have you put up an audio slideshow (perhaps using Soundslides)?
• Have you done a map?
• Have you used weblogs on your site?
• Have you uploaded source documents (PDFs, excel spreadsheets, etc.) to accompany a big story?
• Have you used social media (Facebook, MySpace, YouTube) to market your stories?
• Have you tracked what others are saying about you via Technorati or Google Blogsearch?
• Have you used the web site to post breaking news online FIRST?
• Have you moved the online editor out of the back office and into a position of authority?
• Have you allowed comments on your stories?
• Have you encouraged writers to write for the Web and include hyperlinks in their stories?
• Have you tried something experimental?

To be clear, I’m not suggesting that you should do all of these things at once. The Daily Eastern News is just now talking about getting into online video, for instance, and they don’t have any maps. I’m working to help them move in that direction. #

But you should be doing something. It’s the right thing to do for your students. I was a little disheartened at the AEJMC convention this summer when I heard so many people still beating the dead horse of “how can we do this?” The answers are everywhere. There are more resources available to learn how to do online journalism now than there have ever been. If you can’t find them, send me an e-mail. I’ll hook you up. Browse our del.icio.us bookmarks on the right side of this page (ICM recommends). #

Some people don’t like “checklists.” I find them helpful in the sense that it gives me a sense of what some of the possible approaches to better storytelling via online are. If I don’t know what’s available, how can I figure out what’s the best/simplest way for me to try something new? #

Get moving. The future is here. Ignore it at your peril. #

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