It was just over one year ago when I snagged the position of “Web-Print Editor” at the Gazette. The title later changed, but the dream remained. It was a position I proposed early on in 2009 after seeing an obvious lack of new media at Canada’s best campus newspaper.
The Way It Was
When I arrived as a lowly volunteer only two years ago, the Gazette was outsourcing its web content. The web editors worked outside the office and the EIC demanded they come into the office… “at least once a week.” The quota wasn’t enough. Everyone thought of web as a bonus and treated it with as much attention. Attempts at starting a blog quickly fizzled. Meanwhile, campus publications and groups (like CoPress) were revolutionizing college media. WordPress and in-house web departments beefed up what was happening on the web. EICs were crushing over online publishing and overhauled their newspapers to fill the void. This is what the Gazette needed!
My year as Web Editor
The year started strong. In the summer, we moved the website from university-owned servers to our own. I installed WordPress and created a new website with modern features that our US counterparts had long ago adopted. When the year came around, I tried being the cheerleader for online content and had some modest success convincing print journalists to put in more work for our online side. I started filming video and uploaded the first-ever Gazette videos.
But the biggest difference might have been social media. Two years ago, the Gazette wasn’t in the same ball park as social media. Now we’re sleeping in the same bed. I started a Twitter account and persuaded a few journalists to join. One of them showed reluctant support for the venture. Now he’s our biggest convert. The branding and number of editors participating beats out any other Canadian campus publication I’ve seen, rivalling some U.S. papers too. Our Facebook account grows by the day and supplies our most inlinks (aside from Google, of course).
But the dream wasn’t without its problems. After some trouble in the news department, I volunteered to lend a hand and soon wrapped myself in as a news editor. The time demands and excruciating schedule made it hard to supply the kinds of online content I was hoping for. We still shot a bunch of videos, supplied unique online graphics and even started a new volunteer base with a web and graphics team.
And Today?
We boast around seven Twitter accounts, about 500 followers on Facebook with accounts on YouTube, Issuu, Scribd and Flickr. Our new website is rich with comments, debate, videos, social media tie-ins and infinite flexibility. A new website is on the horizon for launch in September. We’ve struck gold with Gazette Books. Our editorial board was reworked for more creative input and suddenly two years ago seems like a millennia.