HAMZIK: Elon’s student newsroom in transition
I interned at a newspaper this summer that was going through a transition after being bought by a corporate giant for the second time in a year.
It was a fascinating experience, seeing firsthand how the media industry is changing. The adjustments, too, reminded me of what we’ll be going through with Elon University’s student news media this year.
As the rest of the media world reinvents itself for the digital age, we need to as well. That’s why the way student media will deliver news is changing this fall.
And that’s a good thing for you.
The two best sources for what’s happening in the Elon community, The Pendulum and Elon Local News are merging to create one organization called Elon News Network. The Pendulum’s name will still be on the newspaper, and ELN will still be on the broadcast, but they’ll be products of Elon News Network.
Now, you’ll only have to go to one place — www.elonnewsnetwork.com — to read the latest news about our community. You won’t be hearing from two different student journalists from two different organizations asking for an interview, and you’ll only have one Twitter feed (@ElonNewsNetwork) and Facebook page (Facebook.com/ElonNewsNetwork) to follow. Our website and social media pages aren’t live yet, but will be by the start of the fall semester.
And, with the combined resources we have in our merged newsroom, we’ll be able to produce a better variety of products across all platforms.
In addition to updating our website daily, we’ll be producing content for one of our traditional media outlets every weekday. ELN’s Monday night newscast will still air at 6 p.m. on ESTV, and ELN Morning will still be on at 9:50 a.m. Thursdays. The Pendulum will be printed every Wednesday. Our radio show is moving to Fridays at 12:30 p.m., and the Online Exclusive will still record Tuesdays.
Through the changes, we’ll stay committed to providing fair, accurate coverage of Elon University and the surrounding community. Even as this industry and our organization adapts to new media, that overriding mission will never change.
Have questions? Concerns? Want to get involved? Contact me at [email protected] or on Twitter at @T_Hamzik.
We look forward to continuing to serve you, our community and audience, as a newsroom in transition.
View the full press release here.
