Specifically, the site urged student newspapers not to be lured into the promise of a paywall. While I’d say that’s sound advice, I’m not sure there is much legitimate discussion amongst college newspapers to install paywalls while they’re still offering their print product for free.

Nevertheless, the blog offered some tips about how college newspapers can keep afloat in uncertain times.

According to MediaShift:

1. Beef up off-campus reporting.

MediaShift says student journalists should make sure to step off campus, covering their communities.

But if the new journalism world is going to separate will-pay and won’t-pay readers, some extra reporting about local and even national news could be a huge draw.

2. Extend Peer Content Sharing:

Look to fellow college newspapers to get make your content more well rounded.

We are living in a post-UWIRE world in which content distribution among college media is tougher than ever. (Though I have high hopes College News Network or a similar future initiative will save the day).

3. A “three point strategy”

1. Stick with local news reporting depth.
2. Add national news breadth.
3. Be an open window, not a pay wall.

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From the Optimist:

Dr. Cheryl Bacon, chair of the Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, says students and faculty already are working to achieve the goal. A team of faculty and student researchers and developers from multiple departments at the university plan to have the Optimist ready for the iPad by the end of March. Optimist editors plan to employ the new platform to deliver a more converged form of media to the ACU community in addition to the print, online and iPhone app versions of the Optimist.

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That’s shoveling a newspaper’s content onto a Web site during night production, refreshing the page only once daily — and it also happens to be my new media pet peeve.

News online should be fluid. Ideally, a news site should be updated as frequently as possible, offering readers fresh content throughout the day.

Here’s some tips to avoid this all-too common problem.

1. Post news as it happens.

This is kind of a n0-brainer but it’s easy to overlook.  While many college news outlets thrive during big breaking news events, day-to-day news should also be posted as it occurs. Student government meetings, university or city events or minor police incidents shouldn’t wait till the next day’s paper, rather, they should be posted as soon as the story is complete.

2. Don’t rely on Twitter updates

It’s 2010 — most college outlets have stepped into the Twittersphere. But a Twitter update (or simply using Twitter to link out to your stories) isn’t enough. Follow up those 140-character posts with a few paragraphs on your site to give readers more complete updates. If reporters can’t write updates from an event, have them call the newsroom and update editors over the phone.

3. Stagger deadlines.

It’s easy to be lulled into a newspaper’s day-to-day grind.  But a newspaper’s deadline and production process shouldn’t encumber your site. Now’s the time to make online news a priority. Assign reporters deadlines throughout the day. As content comes in it should be immediately edited and posted to the Web site, even if it isn’t immediately timely.

It isn’t just for news items — this is great for multimedia as well as feature and lifestyle stories and even opinion pieces. In order to make your site a destination, it needs to have something different to offer your readers throughout the day.

4. Make sure everyone (or almost everyone) in your newsroom knows how to post to your site.

It’s a scary proposition for many editors. But realistically, if you rely on only a handful of people to keep your site updated, content won’t flow as it should. Make sure multiple people in your newsroom know how to post content to the site — maybe editors or principal reporters or the copy desk.  This way, as content comes in it can be posted.

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The article takes a look at how fledgling blogs at many universities are causing headaches for campus broadsheets — scooping stories, attracting online readers, and not to mention wooing advertisers.

From the Chonicle:

… (Student blogs) are challenging student newspapers in Web hits, says Daniel R. Reimold, a visiting assistant professor of journalism at Nanyang Technological University, in Singapore, who studied nearly a dozen online student news outlets for a 2008 College Media Review article. Readers devour these sites. College officials fret over them. And competitors carp about their edgy methods, which sometimes include a publish-it-now-correct-it-later approach to campus rumors.

Davis Shaver, a sophomore at Penn State, scoops the 200-staffed Daily Collegian, from the comfort of his PSU dorm room with his blog Onward State, which has a staff of 20 and touts itself as “one of the quickest and most informative places for Penn State students, faculty, staff and alumni to find the news that matters most to them.”

The article also discusses the success of NYU Local, a blog launched by senior journalism major Cody Brown and the more established North by Northwestern, founded in 2006.

This is not a universally applauded procedure. Rossilynne Skena, editor in chief of the Collegian, reads Onward State daily and says the competition makes her paper better. But she holds her staff to traditional standards like avoiding anonymous sources, preventing reporters from covering groups to which they belong, and vetting information before printing it.

“Bloggers can post anything,” she says, and they easily retract errors. “For us, getting something wrong is very egregious.”

Maybe so, but campus newspapers could take a few cues from their Web counterparts.  As the Chronicle points out, few student blogs survive their founders’ graduation, but it’s certain that campus newspapers aren’t used to the competition. That competition could be what’s needed to help campus media thrive.

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Estes said  the news aggregator could help fill the void left by Uwire’s sudden shutdown last year.

“Considering Uwire went under there’s kind of a whole to fill there,” Estes said. ” In general, we’re as interested in curating news as  we are curating a conversation around the news.”

The HuffPost is currently reaching out to college newspapers around the country, to build a partnership with publications. In exchange for offering content, student media would place a widget on their Web site listing top stories from the section.

Leah Finnegan, former editor of the Daily Texan, is currently in the process of contacting newspapers about the HuffPost partnership and Estes described the response so far as “overwhelmingly positive.”

“I think it’s a really good opportunity for us to get a hold of the national student voice,” Estes said.

I interned at the Huffington Post’s Washington DC bureau during the fall 2009 semester, and, in my opinion, this is a fantastic opportunity for college media outlets. Most university newspapers see relatively low online readership numbers with only a few thousand unique readers monthly at best. The Huffington Post draws millions of unique readers each month, which could provide not only a national platform for many student reporters but also a modest boost in online readers for college news organizations.

In short, having your story linked to on the Huffington Post or any big news aggregator can translate into increased traffic for your site.

And though clearly I’m biased, I agree with Estes — The Huffington Post’s expertise is not only curating news but fostering thoughtful conversations around it. To me, that’s the point of new media.

Of course, not everyone shares my enthusiasm.

A very lively debate on the Huffington Post’s move into the college media world took place on a Jan. 10 #collegeJourn chat,  with several student journalists expressing concern about the site’s new vertical.

Cody Brown, an NYU journalism major and founder of the NYU Local blog and adviser for CoPress, said student media outlets should stay out of a partnership with the Huffington Post.

“It’s hard to understand but the Huffington Post has a kind of excitement around it outside of NYC,” Brown said in a G-Chat interview. “It’s a popular Web site. It generates insane traffic because of SEO and these college publishers probably think that being associated with it will put them in the same light. It won’t.

“Going into a partnership with the Huffington Post where they can absorb your best stories into their feed, will effectively put a giant-green checkpoint between potential readers and your story.”

Suzanne Yada, online editor of the Spartan Daily at San Jose State University, said she is still unsure if a partnership with the Huffington Post would be a boon for student newspapers, adding that the site is often perceived as being partisan.

“I’m still on the fence about it, ” Yada said. “I’m a little skeptical about putting that badge — the widget on the Web site. Other than hits and bragging rights, I feel like it could be a more beneficial relationship fo The Huffington Post than the college newspaper.”

Again, I would have to say I respectfully disagree. The Huffington Post’s status as a leading online news source could provide college reporters with the spotlight they deserve.

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