COLUMN: Statesman switches to online-first focus
Today isn’t Monday. I’ve had a little trouble keeping it straight. For years, The Utah Statesman filled newsstands with fresh issues on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. This year, we’re moving to a Tuesday-Thursday schedule, and that’s why the first paper of the year hit stands on the second day of school.
I won’t say it’s ideal. I’d like to spit out a paper every day – twice a day on special occasions. Papers across the country, however, are dropping issues that no longer generate enough revenue to support publishing costs. Over the summer, The Birmingham News, The Press-Register of Mobile and the Huntsville Times cut back to three days a week. Closer to home, BYU’s campus paper, The Universe, cut back from five days to one.
Dropping circulation and shrinking newsrooms notwithstanding, I’m optimistic for the future of written news. Technology is changing how people get written articles, not making them obsolete. A couple of decades ago, a reader would pick up a paper, turn to page B5 and read about Madonna’s new book. In today’s technology-saturated world, a reader will log on to Facebook, see a link to a news story, look at three photographs, chat with friends, check upcoming events, see the link again, click it and finally read the article about the latest Kardashian Instagrams. The transition to newer media forms of media isn’t a bad thing. Like all changes, it will be what we make of it and I look forward to faster and more interactive news delivery.
Print is far from dead. Most readers say they like something tangible, something they can pick up, take home, train their dogs with. People still like to see carefully designed, printed pages with interesting photos on the front and comics in the back. A few people – probably the people still reading this article – like to pick up a paper and read every article from start to finish.
At the Statesman, we hope to deliver the best news experience possible through both print and online methods. Now the print edition has two issues a week, breaking news will appear on the website daily. Sports stories will appear minutes after the final buzzer. In the print edition, only the best articles will make the cut. When readers want news quick, we’ll get it to them quick. When readers want in-depth stories, the print version will be in the newsstands
The next iteration of written news won’t be read on desktop computers but on mobile devices. An increasing number of college students own smartphones and three-fourths of college students with smartphones get news on their phones, according to a study by the University of Colorado. More than half of students quit reading a story after the first three paragraphs. This year at the Statesman, we want to bring you the news – and that means articles will be easy to find on computers and mobile devices. The important details will be in the first three paragraphs in case a reader needs to bail out early to get to class on time.
Regardless of the delivery medium, we’re committed to seek out information useful to the community and report it. Though we’ve made changes and we’re likely to see more changes over the years, the reporters at The Utah Statesman will be here, bringing you the news.
Steve Kent is the editor in chief of The Utah Statesman and a senior studying print journalism. Readers can send questions and comments to steve.kent@aggiemail.usu.edu