Dear readers,
It has been a wonderful year and half for me as the Editor-in-Chief of this publication. In that time, The Collegian has gone through numerous changes in layout, content, staff and ideals. But our aim has always been and will remain to be a source of objective information for the Hastings College community and a voice for students. Here is, however, one piece of information we have been loathe to share: each semester, the dumpster behind the Gray Center is filled with unread Collegians, many still in yellow plastic ties.
So this is our pilot edition for a new, online-exclusive Collegian. Although we will remain with print for the senior staff’s final semester, we intend to have a magazine-style Collegian available on iPad, Nook and Kindle, with a paralleled release of content to HC Media Online, for those who don’t have a tablet or e-reader.
Perhaps it was relevant a decade ago to print 2000 copies of the newspaper, but there are hardly ever more than 500 distributed on campus, and probably fewer than 100 make it into the hands of students, faculty and staff and potential students. We don’t need a mathematician to show us the ratio between printed and read newspapers is disheartening. To our staff, this is like attendance at a women’s basketball game. We have the band, and a few dedicated parents and students, but what we aim for is a Pink Night volleyball game for every edition. Our hope is that an online publication will give students more access with Twitter and Facebook updates.
An online publication also allows for a level of convergence by HC Media that will again make Hastings College a leader in media technology. After this year, the opportunity will exist for students to graduate with knowledge of online publishing that many professional news organizations have not adopted. It’s an exciting time to be involved in all Bronco student media: archiving, audio, print and video.
