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Links to Check Out 08/25/2011

August 24, 2011 in industry news

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Redesigns 2011: NCC Lion’s Roar

August 24, 2011 in Redesigns, Websites

The Normandale Community College Lion’s Roar updated their web site design this summer.

Adviser Mark Plenke says, “Really a tweak to tone down the color, but it is new. We’ve gone online-only this fall, by the way, and have once-a-week access to the student email list to send a ‘what’s new on the site’ message.”

Here’s what the new site looks like:

Lion's Roar

Lion's Roar

As always, if your media site has done a redesign recently, send me an e-mail at scmurley -at- gmail.com to let me know for a future post. And if possible, please include a screenshot of what the site looked like before the redesign for comparison.

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Links to Check Out 08/24/2011

August 23, 2011 in industry news

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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Google+ invites still available

August 23, 2011 in social media

googleplusI’ve used Google+ once for a “hangout” to talk to two different interview subjects at the same time. Otherwise, I’m following other journalism leaders and posting links to the blog on there. If anyone reading this doesn’t have a Google+ account yet and needs an invite, drop a comment below, or e-mail me.

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Redesigns 2011: Baylor Lariat

August 23, 2011 in Redesigns

As is tradition here, I’m going to be posting a series about college news org. redesigns for the new school year. Whenever possible, I’ll post a “before” and “after” image with each post. If your school news org has redesigned the web site for the 2011-12 school year, shoot me an e-mail at scmurley -at- gmail.com and I’ll include you in an upcoming post. If possible, include a screenshot of what the old site design was like.

You can see past articles in the series here.

As much as possible, each school will get its own post to highlight the redesign. I’ll also mention what CMS they are using, if I can figure that out.

First up, the Baylor Lariat. This redesign was actually launched in January, but I’m including it since it slipped under the radar last semester. The new Lariat is at a new URL (baylorlariat.com) and uses WordPress as a CMS. The new site’s theme is from GabFire.

Here’s the new site:

Baylor Lariat

Baylor Lariat

And here’s what it looked like before:

lariatold

The new site looks much cleaner, with a better use of white space, more visuals, and more information available on the screen. Assistant Media Adviser Julie Freeman said the new site has been met with enthusiasm.

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College online media checklist for a new year

August 22, 2011 in ideas, innovation

Students are returning to campus for the new year. No doubt, the college journalists on your campus are excited to get back to putting out a product for the community. As I’ve done a couple of times in the past, I’m putting out this checklist of things to consider for your online presence.

  • 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 used a map to highlight the location of a story?
  • What about a timeline?
  • 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, Twitter, YouTube) to market your stories?
  • Have you tracked what others are saying about you via 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?
  • Are you selling ads for your online site?
  • Have you tried something experimental?

Obviously, I don’t expect you to be doing all of these at once if you’re not doing them now. But if you’re doing some of them (you have a site online, congratulations!), maybe it’s time to consider adding to your online toolbox.

Remember, your online presence doesn’t replace your print edition, but it adds depth to the stories you publish. Point people to your online site. Encourage them to “like” your Facebook page. Tweet and respond to people who tweet back to your Twitter presence.

If you’re short-staffed, pick one thing and try that for a semester. See how much you can build that one thing into a reliable skill for your student journalists. If it doesn’t work, try another thing. Above all, keep pushing.

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Links to Check Out 08/19/2011

August 18, 2011 in industry news

Posted from Diigo. The rest of my favorite links are here.

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