Emily Ingram » CoPress http://emilyingram.com Web producer | multimedia journalist | copy editor Fri, 29 Jul 2011 20:25:10 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 CoPress and the problem of turnover at college news outlets http://emilyingram.com/2009/02/copress-and-the-problem-of-turnover-at-college-news-outlets/ http://emilyingram.com/2009/02/copress-and-the-problem-of-turnover-at-college-news-outlets/#comments Wed, 11 Feb 2009 06:51:53 +0000 Emily http://www.emilyingram.com/?p=89 Yet Another Related Posts Plugin.]]>

As I’ve risen through the ranks at the Daily Nebraskan, I’ve come to realize one major problem that is inherent in any college news organization: You will have a complete staff turnover roughly every four years. And, in most cases, turnover in top positions occurs at the end of each semester or academic year.

What that means is by the time you’ve settled into your new job and identified problems, you have only a short time to come up with a solution and get it implemented. That is if you can even figure out what that solution should be.

So how do we stop this frustrating cycle?

We share out knowledge and resources. And we do that through groups like CoPress.

What is CoPress?copress_300x300

If you’ve never heard of CoPress, stop right now and go poke around their site.

The guys behind CoPress are some of the most forward-thinking young journalists I’ve come across. Like most journalists today, they want to find a way to make news organizations sustainable online.

The difference is they are specifically focused on college news outlets and they’re working hard to provide resources to those who need them.

And believe me, we need all the help we can get.

A need for collaboration

The group’s recently redesigned site includes a message board that I hope will grow into a one-stop shop for tips from fellow student editors.

Last week’s discussion on the forum centered on how student news outlets need to collaborate. I could rework my original post, but I like how I said it the first time. In short, we need:

…A place to crowdsource a solution for a particularly difficult problem

For instance: How is your newsroom structured overall? Who works what hours? What is your copyflow like and when does stuff go up on the Web? How do you motivate print-centric reporters to think multimedia?How do you keep content fresh during the day when most of your staff is in class?

A source for tips and tricks that have worked for other young journalists

If you have a success story that I can learn from, I want to hear it. On the other hand, if you thought big and failed even bigger, why? I want to learn from that mistake now, not later when I risk making the same one.

My Google Reader is full of blog entries that help fit the bill, but it’d be nice to have one central place to start looking when I’m on a quest to find tips on making an in-depth Flash project, for instance.

A source of inspiration so we can stay innovative amid all the doom-and-gloom talk

Journalists who break the rules and make their own can be the perfect fix for a crummy disposition.

CoPress can help fill each of those voids. Have your own thoughts? Add them to the thread.

While you’re at it, open up your Twitter account and start following CoPress and its team members:

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