In the same way that campus life is easing back into its regular operations — with pandemic-induced adjustments — so is our newsroom. After a year of remote learning and a semester of publishing online-only content, we are taking steps to bring back our print presence.

For us, this means printing a limited number of print editions. In past years, you have found us on newsstands across campus, fresh papers piled high on Friday mornings and dispersed throughout campus. This year, however, we have made a few changes to our weekly operations.

Rather than our traditional format, we are printing four papers a semester and doing online-only content on the other weeks, scheduling the print editions about once a month. As much as we miss seeing people reading the Trinitonian every week across campus, our new method of operation allows for our staff members to adjust to in-person learning and life back on campus without the added stressor of weekly print deadlines and production nights.

Over the past few years, the importance of news outlets’ online presence has been a topic of discussion in newsrooms and the outside world alike, a conversation only amplified by the restrictions put on workplaces and daily life by the pandemic. Just as others did, reporters, editors and staff went remote across the world, many now tasked with conducting reporting remotely and others losing their jobs completely. People could no longer leisurely walk through grocery stores or stop by their favorite coffee shops to read the day’s paper with their morning pick-me-up.

The Trinitonian was not immune to this either, experiencing a deficit of print-edition readers when half of students were at home, the other half confined to their residence halls or apartments. As a campus publication, this caused a major shift in our operations; since 1902, students have picked up the paper in between classes, during lunch breaks or when handed to them by our staff on Friday mornings in Coates. Physical proximity to the newsstand and word-of-mouth were suddenly whisked away, and we had to find new methods of distribution.

Since then we have bolstered our pre-existing online presence, giving our website a makeover in spring 2021 and sending out weekly newsletters featuring new online content. We have adopted new staff roles, such as newsletter editor, and allocated time to creating digital-friendly content. We aim not just to be a newspaper with a website, but a source of quality, consistent content both online and in-print.

We look forward to our next batch of print editions, coming to newsstands on Oct. 1. In the meantime, we will be working just as hard to provide up-to-date coverage of campus events and news online via our website and our Friday morning newsletter. Whether on paper or your phone, you can rely on us for your weekly dose of campus news, pandemic or not.