College newspapers online

By: Callie McBroom

MediaShift reports that some college campuses have come a long way in going online. Still many others have a long way yet to go.

Bob Bergland, a professor at Missouri Western State University, found that 36 percent of a random sample of college newspapers had no web presence at all.

Online journalism can be problematic for college newspapers because of lack of funding. Additionally, campus readership of the printed product remains high compared to industry standards.

Another problem for college papers is an ever-changing staff. Student journalists graduate quite frequently, and new ones take their place. These replacements might not have the same skills as a graduating journalist.

MediaShift references San Francisco State University, University of Washington, and Eastern Illinois University as examples of good online formats.

This story leads to the question, "How far away is the Simpsonian from going online?"