CHIEF INSIGHT:

Introducing the new RY Web site

November 13, 2008 by April Corbin 

While embracing new media, we must remember our roots

As a senior print journalism major at UNLV, I have been asked one too many times why I am attempting to get into an industry that is slowly dying.

These naysayers remind me that publications across the country (including ones right here in Las Vegas) are scaling down the number of pages in each issue.  Many media empires have instituted hiring freezes on their editorial staffs.  It’s a bad time to be a print journalist, they say.

My response to these naysayers has always been the same.

Pffftt!

Print journalism majors don’t learn the maintenance techniques of printing presses or the best way to throw a newspaper onto the front lawn of subscribers.  They learn and craft the ability to investigate, articulate thoughts and tell an intriguing story.  As long as the politicians spin, the rich exploit the poor and tales of the extraordinary exist, reporters capable of in-depth stories will be needed.

The only thing that’s changing is the medium through which the public receives this information.

Enter: The Age of New Media.

In this age, your local newspaper will send you e-mail blasts with breaking news, you can receive automatic updates about your NFL Fantasy Football team to your BlackBerry and you can filter 16 different blogs into your Google Reader and read them conveniently from your iPhone will driving in your hybrid car.

Going into this academic year, we knew our Web site was outdated in the new media age.

Introducing: The new Rebel Yell Web site.

Our new site is multimedia friendly and will showcase videos and slideshows of campus and campus-related events.  Podcasts are to follow.

Most importantly, however, our new Web site is structured to deliver news at all times, not just on Mondays and Thursdays.

Even before the  re-launch, we began implementing forms of new media.  At the Democratic and Republican national conventions earlier this year, we debuted The Rebel Yell’s Twitter account.

Twitter.com calls itself “[a] service for friends, family and co-workers to communicate and stay connected.”  Various news organizations have begun using the service to inform subscribers (called “followers” on Twitter) about breaking news or provide non-stop coverage of important events.

Twitter.com users can opt to receive updates sent to their phones via SMS texts.  Used poorly, students could receive a hundred text messages a day from their friends complaining about the white minivan that cut them off or how the latest episode of “The Hills” made Lauren’s butt look big.  However, used properly, such a system could be quite beneficial to students.

In fact, many university systems across the country are considering similar services for use in on-campus emergencies.

Similar to Twitter.com, our reporter at the Republican National Convention posted audio clips onto an Utterz.com account.  Utterz.com allows users to record audio clips with their cell phones by calling a specialized number.

It’s pretty cool stuff; however, without an established purpose and guidelines for such tools, the media serves no purpose. Nothing makes me angrier than seeing media used simply because its there.

Another irritating aspect of this is receiving four messages in four hours regarding the World Series of Poker.  Or worse yet, receiving a e-mail blast about the opening of Criss Angel’s (terrible) new show.

This is why we at The Rebel Yell are dedicated to content over style.  To us, substance is preferrable to flash.  Our mission is to represent the UNLV community accurately and use our Web site to aide that goal, not the other way around.

We wish other news organizations had similar goals in mind.

ON THE WEB: 

The Rebel Yell: unlvrebelyell.com

Twitter: twitter.com/therebelyell