It’s easy to publish easy news everyday. Every time you turn around some professor is getting published or an honors student has won another award. These stories fill the mailboxes of editors and reporters everyday. While this is refreshing, it's often the easy way out for your local news media — especially a community/college paper.
A bright light should be shined when credit is due, but my fear as a news editor/student is that the paper will somehow become a daily complement to the university.
If there is one fatal flaw in our new coverage here at The DM, it's that we don’t reach out to a diverse audience. According to recent data collected from the Department of Outreach, the Oxford campus (excluding satellite campuses) is:
80.9% White
12.7% Black
0.9% Multiple
4.1% Other
1.3% Unknown
It’s shocking when looking at the data that the number of minorities at Ole Miss is so small that they are grouped into categories such as “other” and "multiple."
We want to reach out to the community thats voices are never heard. A plan for covering a more diverse crowd in Oxford/Ole Miss is in the works right now, but a little help can go a long way when starting something like this. Shoot your ideas for diversity reporting to thedmnews@gmail.com with ATTN: DIVERSITY in the subject.
Whose story are we not telling?
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Nothing new under the sun... or is there?
Marti wrote about this in the previous post so I won't say much about it, but Monday was pretty bad. Not just because the server died and I was up at the media center until about 2 a.m., but also because it rained all day. Literally. I don't remember it raining like that in Oxford since my freshman year. It was miserable.
But at a certain point you just kind of have to laugh. The days when things go so ridiculously wrong that you find yourself laughing hysterically simply because there's nothing else you can do. I actually find satisfaction in days like Monday because it reminds me that in life, there is nothing new under the sun (or the clouds, whatever the case may be). Everyone else has had days just as bad as mine, and they made it out alive. And it's likely that I will too. The absurdity of a bad day becomes comical, and all you can do is revel in it.
And I do truly believe there is nothing new under the sun. Everything I am saying right now has been said before. Everything's been done before. Everything's been thought before. However, I can't help but think that, in a weird way, there is nothing under the sun that is not new. Including The DM. Everyday, it's the same. It's The DM; it has the same template, the same name plate, the same masthead. But everyday it's completely different from the day before. And that's because of our staff who works so hard to put it together.
My role as managing editor includes reading the content and pages for the Arts & Life, Sports and Opinion sections. Marti reads the News sections and in this way we split the newspaper evenly and read the entire thing with a critical eye. I read for copy editing errors, Associated Press style errors and design flaws. I also run the daily budget meetings in which the whole staff and our faculty advisor Ellen Meacham discuss what will run in the paper the next two days. In addition, I manage payroll for all staff members, writers, photographers and any other contributors. In all, I usually work from five to six hours a day in addition to taking 15 hours of class per week. I get stressed a lot. Especially now that October is coming to an end, I feel burned out. I'm ready for a break.
But I love what I do, which is why I continue to do it. I just love journalism and I love editing and I love writing. I love The DM and I love being able to contribute to it everyday. It's all for you, readers. Keep on reading.
But at a certain point you just kind of have to laugh. The days when things go so ridiculously wrong that you find yourself laughing hysterically simply because there's nothing else you can do. I actually find satisfaction in days like Monday because it reminds me that in life, there is nothing new under the sun (or the clouds, whatever the case may be). Everyone else has had days just as bad as mine, and they made it out alive. And it's likely that I will too. The absurdity of a bad day becomes comical, and all you can do is revel in it.
And I do truly believe there is nothing new under the sun. Everything I am saying right now has been said before. Everything's been done before. Everything's been thought before. However, I can't help but think that, in a weird way, there is nothing under the sun that is not new. Including The DM. Everyday, it's the same. It's The DM; it has the same template, the same name plate, the same masthead. But everyday it's completely different from the day before. And that's because of our staff who works so hard to put it together.
My role as managing editor includes reading the content and pages for the Arts & Life, Sports and Opinion sections. Marti reads the News sections and in this way we split the newspaper evenly and read the entire thing with a critical eye. I read for copy editing errors, Associated Press style errors and design flaws. I also run the daily budget meetings in which the whole staff and our faculty advisor Ellen Meacham discuss what will run in the paper the next two days. In addition, I manage payroll for all staff members, writers, photographers and any other contributors. In all, I usually work from five to six hours a day in addition to taking 15 hours of class per week. I get stressed a lot. Especially now that October is coming to an end, I feel burned out. I'm ready for a break.
But I love what I do, which is why I continue to do it. I just love journalism and I love editing and I love writing. I love The DM and I love being able to contribute to it everyday. It's all for you, readers. Keep on reading.
The night the server died
It's amazing how dependent we are on technology these days. In fact, after the Monday night ordeal we went through to put out Tuesday's DM, I'm going to say our dependence on technology is downright scary.
At the Student Media Center, we share a server with Newswatch, Rebel Radio, The Ole Miss yearbook and the advertising department. The SMC server has not been updated in about three years – and that's a very, very long time considering the amount of content we put on it everyday. As a result, from time to time the server shuts down, which throws the entire DM publishing process into turmoil. We depend on the server to retrieve pages, place content on the pages and generally prepare the paper for printing.
Last night's server shutdown was particularly severe. It was 8 p.m. before the advertising department had even finished prepping our pages for content, and it was well after 9 p.m. when our section editors got started desiging everything. We were reduced from six different working computers to a single station that we had to take turns using. By the time the paper was sufficiently laid out and copy-edited it was after 2 a.m. – and that was before Meghan Blalock, the managing editor, and myself gave our final read and approval on every column, story, photo and design element.
I left the Student Media Center around 4:30 a.m. last night along with Zachary Wilson, our Online Editor, who had to wait for all the pages to be totally read and completed before he could upload content on to TheDMonline.com. When my alarm went off at 7 a.m. to alert me to get ready for my 8 a.m. anthropology class, I thought I just might cry.
Many of our journalism professors tell us stories about the "old days" of DM publishing, when computers were barely used and pages were designed and formatted by hand. I cringe to think that we would have to cut and paste every picture and story into place the way they used to do it, but the fact that our server can malfunction and make it uncertain whether a paper will get printed at all is also unsettling.
In any case, Tuesday's DM is really and truly a labor of love from all of us on staff who gave up homework, appointments, study sessions, food and sleep to get it done. And if we're not in our 8 a.m. classes tomorrow, you all know why.
At the Student Media Center, we share a server with Newswatch, Rebel Radio, The Ole Miss yearbook and the advertising department. The SMC server has not been updated in about three years – and that's a very, very long time considering the amount of content we put on it everyday. As a result, from time to time the server shuts down, which throws the entire DM publishing process into turmoil. We depend on the server to retrieve pages, place content on the pages and generally prepare the paper for printing.
Last night's server shutdown was particularly severe. It was 8 p.m. before the advertising department had even finished prepping our pages for content, and it was well after 9 p.m. when our section editors got started desiging everything. We were reduced from six different working computers to a single station that we had to take turns using. By the time the paper was sufficiently laid out and copy-edited it was after 2 a.m. – and that was before Meghan Blalock, the managing editor, and myself gave our final read and approval on every column, story, photo and design element.
I left the Student Media Center around 4:30 a.m. last night along with Zachary Wilson, our Online Editor, who had to wait for all the pages to be totally read and completed before he could upload content on to TheDMonline.com. When my alarm went off at 7 a.m. to alert me to get ready for my 8 a.m. anthropology class, I thought I just might cry.
Many of our journalism professors tell us stories about the "old days" of DM publishing, when computers were barely used and pages were designed and formatted by hand. I cringe to think that we would have to cut and paste every picture and story into place the way they used to do it, but the fact that our server can malfunction and make it uncertain whether a paper will get printed at all is also unsettling.
In any case, Tuesday's DM is really and truly a labor of love from all of us on staff who gave up homework, appointments, study sessions, food and sleep to get it done. And if we're not in our 8 a.m. classes tomorrow, you all know why.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Moving through uncharted territory
The online world is a funny thing. And, frankly, a scary thing. It's an uncharted wilderness, open for exploration and discovery. On the journey, there are both treasures and pitfalls, and you really never know what’s around the corner.
As the editor of TheDMOnline.com, I have an interesting responsibility: look like I know what I'm doing. Trial and error (along with success and failure) are my best friend and my worst enemy.
What I have working for me are backgrounds in journalism and design, along with knowledge of the Internet and some basic HTML code. What I don’t have is a staff of full-time engineers and programmers to carry out what I envision for the site. And therein lies the main problem.
The Daily Mississippian is an interesting operation, and quite the double-edged sword. On one hand, we’re a group of 100+ student editors, writers, photographers, etc. putting out a student newspaper as part of our training to eventually become full-time journalists. On the other hand, we’re producing a real source of news and information that real people, including students, faculty, staff, Oxford residents and alumni, consume. Then we’re putting it online, where it goes international gets millions of page views every year. (Oh yeah, and we go to class, too. Sometimes.)
Since I started as online editor, one of the main problems I have struggled with is working through our content management system, College Publisher. CP has been extremely helpful with everything we’ve done with the site, but it’s a template program that’s based on uploading the newspaper to a web site. And at The DM Online, we want to do more than that.
Right now we have photo slideshows, a few audio options and some occasional video. And, as of today, three blogs. I feel like we’re definitely moving in the right direction, but we’re not there yet. Part of the problem is balancing student life with work life and trying to stay sane. Another is a general lack of time. And, finally, the fact that we don’t know what’s out there or really even what we’re capable of has proven to be a frustration.
In the future, though, there are several improvements readers can look forward to. For one, a more effective site design. Soon we’ll unveil a revamp of the current site’s design, and from there we’ll work on making improvements and removing some annoyances in the current system. Our video will become much more regular, too, and we want to improve the size and quality of photos on the site. Also, readers will have the chance to get to know the editors of The DM through our blogs and upcoming podcasts, hopefully gaining an understanding of our methods, thought processes and what goes in to putting out the paper every day.
So know that we’re out there, moving through uncharted territory and attempting to find the perfect place to prosper. As with any journey, there will be ups and downs, but I have faith that we’ll find what we’re seeking: a better TheDMOnline.com. And sooner than you think.
As the editor of TheDMOnline.com, I have an interesting responsibility: look like I know what I'm doing. Trial and error (along with success and failure) are my best friend and my worst enemy.
What I have working for me are backgrounds in journalism and design, along with knowledge of the Internet and some basic HTML code. What I don’t have is a staff of full-time engineers and programmers to carry out what I envision for the site. And therein lies the main problem.
The Daily Mississippian is an interesting operation, and quite the double-edged sword. On one hand, we’re a group of 100+ student editors, writers, photographers, etc. putting out a student newspaper as part of our training to eventually become full-time journalists. On the other hand, we’re producing a real source of news and information that real people, including students, faculty, staff, Oxford residents and alumni, consume. Then we’re putting it online, where it goes international gets millions of page views every year. (Oh yeah, and we go to class, too. Sometimes.)
Since I started as online editor, one of the main problems I have struggled with is working through our content management system, College Publisher. CP has been extremely helpful with everything we’ve done with the site, but it’s a template program that’s based on uploading the newspaper to a web site. And at The DM Online, we want to do more than that.
Right now we have photo slideshows, a few audio options and some occasional video. And, as of today, three blogs. I feel like we’re definitely moving in the right direction, but we’re not there yet. Part of the problem is balancing student life with work life and trying to stay sane. Another is a general lack of time. And, finally, the fact that we don’t know what’s out there or really even what we’re capable of has proven to be a frustration.
In the future, though, there are several improvements readers can look forward to. For one, a more effective site design. Soon we’ll unveil a revamp of the current site’s design, and from there we’ll work on making improvements and removing some annoyances in the current system. Our video will become much more regular, too, and we want to improve the size and quality of photos on the site. Also, readers will have the chance to get to know the editors of The DM through our blogs and upcoming podcasts, hopefully gaining an understanding of our methods, thought processes and what goes in to putting out the paper every day.
So know that we’re out there, moving through uncharted territory and attempting to find the perfect place to prosper. As with any journey, there will be ups and downs, but I have faith that we’ll find what we’re seeking: a better TheDMOnline.com. And sooner than you think.
An inside look
If you're at all personally familiar with anyone who has been a member of The DM editorial staff over the past 96 years, you've probably heard them complain that people don't understand what they go through to put out the newspaper.
Daily posting on the InsideTheDM blog will give readers a glimpse behind the scenes and allow them a much more in-depth, personal view of life at The DM. Each day will include a new entry from a different staffer about what is up-and-coming in their area, things they're having trouble with or things for which they'd like a little reader input.
As with anything we do at The DM, the main goal of our blogs is to provide a valuable reader service. Your participation, input, thoughts and criticisms matter to us. Have ideas or comments about the new blogs? Send them our way at editor@thedmonline.com.
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