TommieMedia.com launches

[slidepress gallery=’tm-launch-video’]

Shane Delaney, Videographer

SLIDESHOW: Check out TommieMedia staff members busy at training.
SLIDESHOW: Check out TommieMedia staff members busy at training.

Student-oriented St. Thomas news can now be found on one Web site: TommieMedia.com.

The all-digital student-run news organization launched Wednesday, Sept. 9, with a focus on visuals and daily updates.

Video, slideshows and audio pieces will be commonplace. So will text stories on everything from news to sports to variety stories.

Weekly editions of The Aquin are history, along with monthly installments of Campus Scope. The move wasn’t made to save money, but to give better up-to-the-minute coverage for the St. Thomas community.

The move to compile the various forms of media on one Web site is believed to be a collegiate first.

Not only will TommieMedia feature local, state and national news as a member of the Associated Press, but the AP said TommieMedia is the first college online-only organization to join AP.

Former Campus Scope producer and now TommieMedia director Shane Delaney likes the experience TommieMedia will give Communication and Journalism students.

“This is something they need to have in order to give them real-world journalism experience,” Delaney said. “To give them a taste of what the business is like when you graduate is great.”

TommieMedia will create multiple new products.

  • “News in 90”: A quick broadcast lasting just 90 seconds posted at noon Monday through Friday. It will keep viewers up to date with two campus news stories and three relevant news stories from the AP.
  • Weekly TV broadcast titled “Connected”: A five-minute broadcast from an anchor desk, bringing viewers up to speed on news, sports and other topics. It will be posted online every Thursday afternoon.
  • Ten hours on KUST: From 1 to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday, TommieMedia will own the KUST airwaves and broadcast live interviews, recorded conversations and discussions. Nearly half the airtime will be devoted to Tommie athletics.
  • Sports, sports and more sports: Varsity sports will get more in-depth and daily coverage. The difference from years past will be in club and intramural coverage. TommieMedia.com will post information such as polls for intramural football’s top 10 teams in addition to game recaps and coverage of St. Thomas non-varsity teams.
  • Public relations and advertising: Something that hasn’t been a part of student news on campus in years. TommieMedia PR and ad staff have already started the site’s promotion. Drawstring bags, 5,000 refrigerator magnets and posters scattered throughout campus have started to spread the word.

“People will realize how great it is,” said Kiera Jacobson, TommieMedia’s public relations and advertising executive. “If somebody’s studying late in the library and they hit up TM and see an advertisement for Jimmy John’s, they will probably give them a call.”

With about 40 students on the TommieMedia staff, a six-adviser team headed by COJO department head Kris Bunton will advise but not be too involved in the production of content.

“For the first time ever we have six faculty members and each of whom bring different strengths,” Bunton said. “We can play off each other and give students the coaching and training they need.”

Many have voiced concern about a Web-only news destination. After 76 years of a print copy of news, the transition may have some hiccups.

But Delaney said the quality of the TommieMedia.com content will drive its following.

“People take the time to go on Facebook and take the time to look at pictures online,” Delaney said. “So then they’ll take the time to look at TommieMedia.com, especially if they have friends having stories written about them or if there’s a hot topic going around on campus.”

Shane Kitzman can be reached at smkitzman@stthomas.edu.

19 Replies to “TommieMedia.com launches”

  1. I question why I had to go and graduate before the launch of this site. It looks really good and the new content sounds promising. Kudos to all involved.

  2. Wow. Impressive! Zow. Zippy! Smart. Contemporary. Very forward thinking. Colleagues and TommieMedia students: you did it! And it’s incredibly awesome. Way to go.

  3. Love it. And I imagine you’ll only be adding more features as time goes on.

    My only suggestion: Set the videos so they don’t loop and autoplay. It’s quite distracting if I’m going straight to the text or checking on the latest comments for a video I’ve already seen.

    Of course that’s a minor quibble on the first day. Great job.

  4. Wow – UST has come a long way. I still remember (literally) pasting together pages of The Aquin back in the day (1997). Kudos to the UST Journalism and PR Departments for having the leadership and foresight to lead the way and prep students for 21st century journalism and PR. And man it looks like you guys have some nifty equipment. The stories I could tell about what we had to work with back in the stone age (1990s). Congrats to all. This will give students great clips/prep/training too that will lead to real-world gigs.

  5. I agree with Alex…why couldn’t this have existed when us dinosaurs glued pages of The Aquin to galley sheets. Congrats on a great launch and project. Looking forward to the daily updates.

  6. When I first heard the print edition was cancelled I was devastated. However, after visiting the site I realized with this new version all voices can be heard in the comment sections of stories instead of having to write letters to the editors and compete for space. Now my opinions will be published!

  7. Great job. My congratulations to the entire Tommie Media staff. I had no idea that the site would be so comprehensive and so nicely designed. Good feel. Easy to navigate. Excellent interactivity. Perfect showcase for your advertisers. Kicks butt. St. Thomas students need to make this their home webpage. A great addition to the St.Thomas brand and a terrific opportunity to more meaningfully connect with the surrounding community. Keep working hard. Others will soon try and follow.

  8. Congratulations on a fine beginning! Tommie Media will be an enormous amount of work but I know you will make it worthwhile.

  9. I agree with Mr. Skjong and Mr. Mattson. Tommie Media was the first Web site I viewed this morning. I read through all the stories and watched the videos. I’m excited to see this great news outlet evolve. Nice job Tommie Media staff!

  10. One word of advice to the team that launched this spectacular enterprise: leave some space on the wall for the awards that you’re going to be collecting.

  11. While TommieMedia is AMAZING, I still wish we had the Aquin, a physical copy of the news that could be enjoyed before a class started or on the couch with a cup of coffee, not a computer. Keep Tommiemedia which ROCKS! but please BRING BACK THE AQUIN and tradition

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