Since the semester began, we’ve been working tirelessly to launch our new website. It’s long overdue, honestly, but better late than never. After countless hours of training videos and cussing at my computer, I’m elated to share with you what I’ve hoped for since I became editor-in-chief more than a year ago:
We’ve got a new website, and we’re damn happy about it.
Now, I’ll tell you this — It’s still a work in progress. I’ve got the more tech savvy members of the newsroom ironing out the kinks. But it’s much better than what we had, and what we had was zilch.
If The Helmsman has fallen short under my reign, it’s been by not supplying our readers with a home to view and share the content found in our print product. This is a problem. The long and short of it is that I inherited a disastrous website when I came into the position. It wouldn’t archive stories, which made locating specific articles a longwinded task. That’s just one on the laundry list, but it’s no longer here or there. Old news.
We didn’t build a new website just because it’s more user-friendly, however. I, and the rest of us at The Helmsman, have multi-faceted ambitions that come along with the new domain. It’s imperative that all University of Memphis graduates can conveniently stay informed about what’s happening on campus. But it’s also important for every person currently enrolled at the University — student, faculty and staff — to be able to read, share and comment on all U of M news at any hour from any location.
This isn’t a radical thought. This is just a 21st century expectation. I’m excited to usher our publication into the hands of the Iphone generation. But my hopes are that our digital presence will push you all to our print product, which we’ve been bringing to campus for decades. I stand strong in my belief that nothing trumps holding a newspaper in your hands or smelling the fresh ink bleed into the pages. The instantaneous Twitter web of thoughts can’t kill organic face-to-face conversation. And, ultimately, it’s the tangible that still rakes in the almighty dollar.
But our website satisfies a demand that can’t be ignored. This has been at the top of my priority list since I came through the door. I want to push The Helmsman into uncharted territory. A new era.
From this point forward, you’ll see us more actively tweeting out our content. But my big wish is to truly make our paper the student’s soapbox. My mission is to create a platform for all of you to share your thoughts and opinions. I want to create a constant dialogue with all of you. How can we, together, best highlight, improve and discuss the University of Memphis?
Is there something you want to share with the rest of campus? Write a letter to the editor (hi, editor here), and we’ll run it in print and online. Doing something interesting on or around campus? Take some photos with your phone and tweet them to us. We’ll print those, too. See something funny, or ~newsworthy~, on your way to class? Tweet it out with #tigerbabble. Got the scoop on some major news? Send your tips to news@dailyhelmsman.com. How can we improve our paper? Let me know at Jtcannon@memphis.edu.
I’m really excited to steer The Helmsman into new waters. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Best, my friends, and do some good this week.
