FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
June 20, 2008
Contact: Anika Mitchell Perkins
(662) 329-7124

MUW campus newspaper transitions from print to digital

COLUMBUS, Miss. – The Spectator, Mississippi University for Women’s campus newspaper, will move from a print to digital format in the fall.

“We want to make our students more employable,” said Dr. Marty Hatton, chair of the Department of Communication, who said they have been paying attention to the journalism industry and changes predicted by its leaders.

Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, spoke at the Chronicle of Higher Education’s Leadership Forum where he told a group of college and university leaders that the future of the news business was moving online.

“For all of the woes besetting our business, I believe in my heart that newspapers will be around for a long time,” he said, even though the news may not be delivered “as that lovable old-fashioned bundle of ink and cellulose.”

In January 2008, a survey conducted by PR Week/PR Newswire of 1,152 newspaper and magazine journalists found that more than half anticipate a decline in print circulation with more focus on the website of their publication.

Another survey confirmed that there is a shift from print to online among younger adults, with 55 percent of individuals ages 18 to 29 saying they obtain most of their news and information online compared to 35 percent of those 65 and older. This nationwide survey, which involved 1,979 adults, was conducted by Zogby Interactive in February 2008.

“We will still have print for special occasions,” Hatton said. “Online will be primary and print will be secondary.”

He added that the communication department has been working on its curriculum for a number of years. The program was modified in 2001 after consulting with media convergence expert James K. Gentry in 1999.

“The Spectator Online is the actual physical product of what media convergence is,” Hatton said. “There are so many reasons why online makes sense—it’s more interactive and text can be easily updated.”

Hatton said video and audio will enhance still pictures and text, creating rich story packages.

In addition to providing richer content, Dr. Barry Smith, who teaches the web-based production courses, said the online product can provide more and deeper content.

“Newspapers are limited by the amount of space on the page. Oftentimes there isn’t room for extended features or reviews or travelogues or other types of content that people may want to see. Being online means there is more room for these other types of content.”

He added, “An online Spectator will have much greater reach than a print edition. The print edition has had only a couple of thousand issues available in the Columbus area once per week. This is not convenient or accessible for alumni and potential students in other cities or states (or countries) who may want to receive this content. An online Spectator will be available around the world, all-day, every day.”

As for cost, Eric Harlan, instructor and Spectator technical adviser, said the university will see a savings since the print edition will disappear.

“This has been the plan for The Spectator since we went for the convergence in the Department of Communication—to use The Spectator not only as a student news outlet, but as a demonstrator for our program,” Harlan said. “For recruitment, this will be a ‘see what you do at The W kind of thing.’ Plus, this is what we see as the eventual model for mass communication for the MySpace/Facebook generation.”

Dr. Sandra Jordan, provost and vice president for academic affairs, added that the basic skills and knowledge needed to be a journalist are still at the heart of the curriculum.

“What is changing is the way that journalists interact with the consumers of news,” she said. Journalists are not in the paper and ink selling business…they are communicators and by modifying the experiential learning imbedded in The Spectator, our students will be well-prepared to communicate in the emerging format of digital news. In the last century it would have been irresponsible of journalism programs to require students to learn how to manage woodblock printing…and today it would be equally inappropriate to focus exclusively on paper dissemination in a digital world.”