The world is a fast-changing place, and nowhere is the powerful influence of technology becoming more evident than in the world of journalism. While hundreds of newspapers across the country have gone out of business just since the time we started high school three years ago, the number of monthly Twitter users has jumped by 137 million in the same time frame: a clear sign that media is entering a new age.
As a public forum for the Marshall community, we believe that it is incredibly important to stay up to date with the way that our readers consume their media, so we are proud to announce that this year we will be making a significant push to add a strong online presence to our already large print presence. While we have had a website, Twitter account, and Facebook page for a few years now, we will no longer treat these as secondary to our print edition but rather as equally vital branches of our publication.
Along with reaching out more on social media, we also plan on being more accurate in our representation of Marshall as a community. In the past, we’ve printed stories and infographics exclusively in English. This year, we’re enthusiastic to begin working with students in the ESOL program to start printing side-by-side guest articles in both English and the writers’ native languages.
Beyond our excitement about devoting more time to our online presence, this will be a good year for our print publication as well. The organization of this year’s editorial board—namely, having two editors-in-chief rather than one—will allow us to focus evenly on both aspects of our publication. We also look forward to presenting more stories in engaging and alternative formats, as the addition of the Design Editor position to our editorial board gives us more room to push for creative page layouts.
While we are all excited to get started on this volume of Rank & File, we are still first and foremost an open public forum and we want you to be an active part of our publication this year. Not only can you engage by writing guest articles or tweeting at us, feel free to drop by the journalism room (D211) with any story ideas you have.