It was a little more than a year ago when, as online editor at Central Michigan Life, I was tasked with reconstructing cm-life.com from the ground up.
Since we were one of dozens of student newspapers that used College Publisher, we first considered upgrading from 4.0 to 5.0, which would effectively redesign the site and give it a fresh look. But because of several limitations with this move and other opportunities out there, we put that on hold, rode out the rest of the spring semester and used the summer to explore our options.
That was when I came in contact with CoPress, a group dedicated to building student newspaper Web sites, for the first time.
We first heard about CoPress when CMU colleague of mine, David Veselenak, met Greg Linch at a Society of Professional Journalists engagement in Indiana earlier in the year. Once David told me about it, we examined their offerings and, to put it simply, we were excited. I remember looking at sites such as the Miami Hurricane and imagining the possibilities for Central Michigan Life — having full control of our content and where it is played to best serve our audience.
One summer later, we were able to make that a reality. Our site was redesigned in time for Back-to-School launch. The impact was staggering; Web advertising jumped 300 percent, traffic jumped about 10-15 percent (particularly on our non-production days since we publish thrice weekly) and we introduced live chats, livestreaming, extensive multimedia projects and much more to our site.
None of this could have been done without the help of Daniel Bachhuber and the rest of CoPress.
The end of an era… or is it?
On Feb. 16, CoPress, comprised of a team of young and extremely intelligent journalists and innovators, announced it was closing down operations.
In a word, I was shocked. As a young journalist and five-year veteran of a student newspaper, I take pride in college-level work and realize the importance of the education one can receive in a student newsroom. That is where journalists are born, where young minds are cultivated and where the curious grow hungrier. We all start there and, in some way or another, it impacts the way we view journalism and how much passion we have for it.
People rarely look at journalism these days with optimism. On paper, it’s for good reason. But it means we, as young journalists, have another job to do. With work in this field growing thin, buyouts numbering and news organizations closing, even, never has it been more integral for these student newsrooms to move forward and embrace a life off the printed pages. And it all starts with their Web presentation and their multimedia and social media efforts online.
This, for Central Michigan Life and for dozens of other student newspapers, was where CoPress came in. While I’d like to think that I, along with the help of several other journalists at Life, were instrumental in putting together cm-life.com, I remember asking dozens of questions to Daniel, to the CoPress forums and trying to get feedback from everybody I could during the summer when developing the new site.
It is impossible for me to imagine where the site would be without the answers I received.
One thing that CoPress did that I always appreciated: It built a network around itself with other student journalists willing to take the next step. When you had a question, were looking for input or had an issue to discuss, you could talk to dozens of people with your passion rather than just two or three. Participation is essential in journalism, and it’s especially essential if you want to become better at serving your community. CoPress made that easier. It wasn’t afraid to extend the discussion elsewhere and take ideas from other student journalists.
Where we can go from here
Now that CoPress is closing down, I feel that it’s all the more important that student newsrooms and journalists committed to moving forward and transitioning to modern-day news-gathering stay connected, network, help each other and set an example for the rest of the industry.
So many student newspapers have made incredible strides over the past year with their Web presence. For example, I love what the Minnesota Daily has done with its Facebook application and the Mustang Daily with its hot topic pages. Student editors, reporters and programmers alike should come together regularly and discuss these ideas. Show off your latest project(s) and idea(s), critique others and discuss important issues and questions.
Of course, this is already being done to some degree in several places. On Twitter alone, Monday’s #journchat, Wednesday’s #wjchat and especially Sunday’s #collegejourn chat are great starts. My hope, however, is more student journalists get involved with these and engage with others. I’m particularly encouraged by the student journalists nearby at Ferris State University in Big Rapids, Mich. Two of them are running a Web site, College Newsroom, that seeks to talk with other journalists on issues. I saw several others in Monday’s #journchat. That’s the type of involvement we need more of.
To those at CoPress: Thank you for everything you’ve done for Central Michigan Life and dozens of other college newsrooms, and good luck. I’m really looking forward to interacting with you guys and working with you as we try to make journalism better.
Posted by Brian Manzullo at March 2, 2010
Journalism