Perhaps you were wondering where The College Reporter has gone. Perhaps you thought that last week’s snowstorm was responsible for its absence and that you would see the papers floating around again on campus this week. Or maybe you had no idea what was going on and have been lost ever since. Or maybe you have already heard that the staff at The College Reporter has officially decided to make a complete, 100-percent digital transition.

This transition will involve much of what we were already doing: we will continue to write, edit, and layout our articles as we always have, but instead of printing on physical paper we will upload an electronic PDF to our website. We will also be posting articles on our website. This content will be distributed weekly just like the regular paper, but instead of picking up the newspaper at a few locations on campus, students and faculty can find the newspaper in their email inboxes.

The staff is excited about this full-digital transition and the opportunities it provides. This progression will allow for the Reporter to move along with the transition to online media occurring across the entire field of journalism.

The conversion will ease the financial burden of printing hard copies. More importantly, publishing solely online will decrease the Reporter‘s carbon footprint, and will allow for more timely coverage, dynamic use of multimedia, and a more accessible collection of information for our readers.

The staff can now produce more accurate and timely information to the campus community at large as the digital platform allows for far more space without any of the constraints of a set print schedule. Luckily with all of these benefits, there is no loss to students looking to gain experience in publication and journalism. The College Reporter will remain an all-student run platform that will allow students interested in writing and journalism to get experience and collect published work that is now more relevant to future careers in these fields.

The staff already has several ideas of ways to make our content more engaging on a digital platform. Some of these include live coverage of events, video reporting, and enhanced photo displays. The transition to digital additionally allows use of our social media accounts on Facebook and Twitter to connect with the student body more effectively. We encourage everyone to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for the most up-to-date coverage and news. To like us on Facebook click here and to follow us on Twitter click here.

For access to premium content, which currently includes the weekly PDFs and photo galleries, readers can register for a new user account. All current students, faculty, and staff will be able to register for free and we will grant all those listed as current subscribers access to this content for life. To register visit this page.

As the paper transitions into the digital age, there is more flexibility for creativity and experimentation. We are excited about this transition and we hope the campus will support us in it, whether that means reading the paper online or getting involved on the staff.

The staff would love to hear any suggestions anyone has of how to enhance our online presence. We also encourage anyone interested in working with us to get in touch. Any ideas, questions or inquiries can be directed at co-editors-in-chief Justin Kozloski (justin.kozloski@gmail.com) and Sloane Markley (sloane.markley@fandm.edu).

Thank you for your continued support and readership, F&M!

By TCR