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Red & Black takes innovative print/online strategy to new level

August 30, 2011 in College Media News, hope for the future, innovation

randb20The University of Georgia’s Red & Black (previously mentioned here and here and here) has long been an innovative campus media outlet. This semester, they’ve taken that innovation to a new level, abandoning their daily print product in favor of a weekly print/online hybrid and the addition of a monthly full-color magazine. You can see what the new weekly print edition looks like here. The R&B‘s web site is still powered by the WordPress CMS.

Dan Reimold outlines the strategy in a very complete article for PBS MediaShift: Revolution in Georgia: Student Newspaper Goes Digital First.

I interviewed Red & Black Publisher Harry Montevideo about some of the behind-the-scenes details of the development of this new publishing model.

I’m including a transcript of the entire interview below the fold, but I did want to mention a few of the top-level takeaways from the discussion:

  • The Red & Black spent a lot of time looking at the issue before deciding to go from daily to weekly.
  • The staff and board of directors spent a lot of time researching the issue before making a decision.
  • Students were understanding and accepting of the change – a key buy-in.
  • The staff interviewed advertisers and received assurances that the advertising income would be similar even in a weekly format.
  • The Red & Black hasn’t had to spend a lot of extra money on equipment to upgrade.
  • The student staff structure is pretty much the same as it was, with the exception of a few fewer page designers.
  • The new Ampersand magazine is an effort to pull in students who normally wouldn’t work for a newspaper, and provide another vehicle for advertising income.
  • The primary goal of the Red & Black is still training students for their future careers in journalism, no matter what format/publication schedule they have.

Here’s a look at the cover of the first issue of Ampersand:

magazineonline

The full version will be online at the Red & Black web site next week, says Ed Morales, editorial adviser. The magazine might get its own dedicated web site next year.

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Make smaller YouTube clips with Splicd

August 26, 2011 in Academics, online software

I found this site via the JEA Digital Media Resources, and it looks like a great tool for educators and student media organizations who use YouTube videos on their sites or in the classroom.

Splicd allows you to enter a YouTube URL, along with a start and stop point, and then it outputs a link and embed code to put on your site.

For an example, I often like to share this clip of This American Life host Ira Glass talking about getting from the point where you don’t have the skills but want to do something creative, to the point where you have the skills:


powered by Splicd.com
The original YouTube video is five minutes long, and there’s a bit of talking before the clip I selected. But I was able to trim the clip to exactly what I wanted to share without having to load the entire 5 minute clip.

This would be especially useful for a student journalist who wants to highlight a certain portion of a press conference, for instance; or an instructor who wants to showcase a particular section of a YouTube clip that exists within a larger 10 minute clip.

I’m almost certain YouTube has a similar internal feature, but you have to have a YouTube account. This tool is available to anyone.

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Redesigns 2011: Ga. Tech Cable Network

August 26, 2011 in Redesigns, Websites

Georgia Tech’s Cable Network recently redesigned their web site. Here’s the new look:

Georgia Tech

Georgia Tech

I don’t have a screenshot of what the earlier design looked like, but you can check out an archived version of what the site looked like in Feb. 2009 at the Internet Archive.

The front page of the web site is very graphic. If I could change anything, I’d probably try to make the white space between the elements more even, especially within columns (note the width of the video player center page above the MTV casting call graphic).

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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CMA relaunches web site and National College Media Convention Details: Orlando

August 25, 2011 in College Media, Redesigns

Earlier this week, College Media Advisers, Inc., the national organization representing those who advise college news organizations, relaunched their web site with a new design and a new CMS from WildApricot. Here’s the new look collegemedia.org:

collegemediaredesign

It is less cluttered than the previous version of the site, which was put up in 2008, although I’m not a fan of too many items in a left nav bar. There are other changes in store for the new site, so it will likely change in the future. Any thoughts.

In a related vein, the planning for the Fall National College Media Convention is almost complete. You can see what’s going on in Orlando this October by downloading the convention brochure (PDF link).

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Redesigns 2011: Penn State Collegian

August 25, 2011 in Redesigns, Websites

The Penn State Daily Collegian redesigned their site this summer. Here’s the new version:

Penn State Daily Collegian

Penn State Daily Collegian

The Daily Collegian upgraded their design last summer as well. Here’s what it looked like when we showcased it in 2010:

collegian2010

The move from a color background to a white background looks good. Also, they’ve moved more information “above the fold.”

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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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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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It’s easy to forget video rules in breaking news: Don’t

April 29, 2011 in video

I’ve been looking at a lot of video footage from the tornado outbreak that devastated vast areas of the southeast United States. Some of the footage of the tornadoes from Alabama (like this and this) has been absolutely breathtaking.

Second day videos have attempted to capture some of the scope of the destruction the tornadoes left in their wake. That’s a good use of internet video. But in the rush to show the destruction, reporters seem to lose sight of some of the basic principles that help make for strong video – especially Internet video. Watch this short clip from al.com showing devastation from Concord, Ala.:

There are some powerful images in that video.

The destroyed car.

QuickTime Player 7ScreenSnapz001

The people picking through the rubble of their house.

QuickTime Player 7ScreenSnapz003

The woman comforting the child.

QuickTime Player 7ScreenSnapz002

The frustrating thing is that you never get to feel the impact of these visuals, because the video is constantly panning from side to side. Even as the video is panning, you only get fractions of seconds to view the scene as it passes by.

One of the first “rules” I hear from newspaper videographers about Internet video and I repeat ad nauseum in my multimedia classes is this: Don’t pan or zoom. Shoot steady shots. If you are trying to capture the extent of a horrible scene, shoot a wide establishing shot – steady, and then shoot a series of medium and closeup shots – snapshots of the devastation.

I don’t want to single this reporter out – I’ve noticed this frequently with breaking news videos. It’s easy to forget the basics when you’re staring at an event of a lifetime, or even of the year. Time is of the essence. Editors are tapping their feet for the latest images from the scene. Don’t forget the basics. If it helps, write Don’t Pan or Zoom on a strip of tape and tape it to the back of your video camera/mobile phone/whatever so you’ll see it every time you get ready to press the record button.

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