It is the 21st century.
Horses no longer draw carriages, telegrams are no longer the biggest form of interpersonal communication and newspapers are no longer printed on a printing press.
People today consume their information digitally.
In fact, the people reading this are probably reading it on their smartphones as they wait for class to start or during their lunch break at work. In a fast-paced society focused on consuming information quickly and efficiently, it makes sense for news outlets to adjust the way it produces its content.
That being said, The Argonaut is changing.
For the past 118 years, The Argonaut has come out twice a week. This was a tradition that wasn’t easy to break. However, the necessity to do so became apparent as information consumption has changed.
Now, The Argonaut will come out once a week in print. We intend to publish every Tuesday during the school year. But this doesn’t mean Tuesday is the only day readers can find news stories.
While we may not print as much as we used to, the same high quality, student journalism readers have come to appreciate will be available online every day.
Our goal is to provide content daily as well as updates through Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We intend to expand our online presence throughout the spring semester, not only for the benefit of our readers who will be able to read our content from anywhere, but also for the benefit of our staff of students.
Not only has news consumption changed, but so has reporting. This means the way journalism students are taught reporting skills is also changing, and it needs to change faster.
University of Idaho Journalism and Mass Media majors learn real-world skills in the classroom and as part of Student Media. Thus, it is important for the methods of journalism and mass media to adapt and change. Our students cannot fall behind the curve, or the real world will swallow them whole.
With this change to once a week publication, The Argonaut staff will learn how to live Tweet, Facebook live stream and more about how to work in a fast-paced, deadline-oriented environment.
This change is good for those involved. Students will learn techniques and skills they wouldn’t learn in a classroom and consumers will receive their high-quality news quicker than ever.
To learn more about our switch and what it means to be digital first, please refer to the Student Media adviser’s letter from Friday as well as the editorial found in Wednesday’s paper or online.
Claire Whitley can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @Cewhitley24