The Bray, the student newspaper of Southern Arkansas University, officially launched its new online edition during the spring semester.
TheBrayOnline.com will be a constantly updated news source for the students, faculty, staff, and friends of SAU.
“The Bray Online allows the Bray staff to get you information as it happens,” said Dylan McLemore, assistant professor of mass media and faculty advisor to The Bray. “It provides us with the ability to go beyond our printed capacity with photo galleries, video clips, and other multimedia content. It allows you, the reader, to get involved by commenting on stories or even submitting your own news and opinions.”
As the student staff added online publishing to their duties, print publication moved from a weekly to a biweekly schedule.
The online edition will carry all print stories, as well as web exclusives that did not make it to the presses. PDF downloads of print editions will also be available, dating back to the beginning of the 2010-2011 school year.
Bray staff also maintain a Twitter feed (@thebrayonline) and a Facebook page (search for “The Bray Online”).
The drastic loss of jobs in the print industry – over 15,000 since the recession began – combined with an increase in the consumption of online news led to the decision to begin providing electronic content.
“Employers are looking for a new set of skills, and consumers are looking for a new way to get information,” McLemore said. “The game has changed. To continue to do things the same way would be a disservice to our readers and our students preparing for their careers.”
As a student editor of The Bray newspaper from 1982-1983, I stand amazed @ the level that technology has thrust the news gathering/ disseminating process. Being from the “black ink on white paper age”, I had the desire to share my creativity, but at such a tortuous cost to my grades! However, the new digital advances provide a phenomenal experience for anyone interested in mass communications now. As a freshman, I worked for the student editor Judith (Judy) Johns from 1981-1982. Then, at age 18, I applied and became the managing editor of The Bray as a sophomore. I remember the three slanted night tables that we hovered over after our stories were typeset on the one & only typesetting machine. My father, a carpenter, fashioned a hot wax machine and cradle that we used to stick the newsprint onto the “dummy boards” before sending the newspaper to be printed in Camden. I have fond memories of those days that more often than not turned into the 5 a.m. stopping time (with an 8:00 class looming over my head just 3 hours away). At any rate, I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything in the world. I just hope that today’s students realize what others before them have done, and I marvel that they must get just as big a “hit” from seeing their story in print now that I had done when my stories were published some 30 years ago. From a ghost of editors past, I say….”Carry on and enjoy!” Sincerely, (Malinda “Mimi Pike”), SAU alumnus. Go Riders!~
This is great!
As a parent of a SAU student, I think it is a great idea to put the Bray on-line. My son plays on the all-BCL intramural football team that won the intramurals this fall and will be heading to regionals. He told me there was an article in the Bray entitled “Beatable?”. Would it be possible for me to see this article?
Kelly Powell