As we ring in the new school year, it’s time to set goals for the semesters ahead. Some of us aim to get good grades, while others say they’ll finally visit the Bell Center “” or at least start next week. The Trinitonian’s goals are like those of any student: we want to produce good work, make new friends and find our place on campus.
We strive to make the Trinitonian indispensable on campus and in the wider-reaching network of alumni, parents, Tiger fans and San Antonio citizens. In the past, we’ve attempted to facilitate controversial conversations on campus, always pushing boundaries with the stories we tell. Now, we’re taking a new step forward. This year we plan to innovate not only in our content, but also in how we engage our audience. To accomplish this, we’ve taken on new initiatives for the year. One is to become a digital-first publication.
The Trinitonian has always been a print-first newspaper. We write stories each week and publish them in print, then we upload them online once the print edition has hit the stands. If you follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, you may have noticed that we’ve begun to publish stories during the week, in anticipation of the print paper’s release. We’re still working to hit our stride in this area, but by January 2018, we will have perfected the process.
As a college newspaper, we can afford to take risks with format. We have the opportunity to try, fail and adapt in a safe environment. We’re students. We can and should push the boundaries of our publication and come out with a unique and engaging Trinitonian that gives our audience immediate access to the news, opinions and stories of our university community.
At the core of this change is a shift in the newsroom’s culture. No longer will we be forced to push a story to print to meet page numbers; we will have the freedom to report on and curate stories that exemplify the mission and values of the Trinitonian. Deadlines will be driven by content and content will be driven by our audience. With an engaged, measurable audience, the Trinitonian can provide information in new and innovative ways that are imperative to our readers.
Content is content, whether it’s read online or in print, but what we see at other successful universities is a tendency of students to embrace online media. We have tangible proof from our social media outlets that show how engaged our community can be when we use the web to its full extent””and, right now, we are not. The good news is that we can. The website is more relevant to both our on-campus community and the far-reaching Trinity community as a whole.
To bring this new iteration of the Trinitonian into being, we need the support of our peers. As student journalists, we work to serve our campus by providing immediate and captivating stories that spotlight the actions and passions of our students, faculty and alumni. We don’t have all of the answers to how this will work or what steps will need to be taken but we are driven to work tirelessly to find a model that works.
The best way you can help is to keep up with the Trinitonian and help us keep up with you. Follow us on our social media channels and send story tips to [email protected]. We want to work for you and we want to work with you; with hope, our enhanced digital presence will better equip us to do exactly that.
