The future of the Clarion without its print publication will be different in diverse areas of emphasis, such as doing more online works that contain audio, video, photos and graphics.
Communication/journalism professor and adviser to the Clarion, Patrick Schmiedt, said this is an exciting time for the Clarion to try something new, different and special.
“The innovation is happening online, and not in print, and we want our students to be innovative,” said Schmiedt, who initiated the change.
Schmiedt said this change means the Clarion will be more responsive to where college students are.
Citrus students are mostly online and they are not necessarily reading newspapers. Schmiedt said a better way to be more responsive is to put focus on what Clarion is doing online, and that is something the Clarion is going to embrace.
Schmiedt said a bit of sadness comes with the change, but at the same time, the evolution is a good one for students and for the college.
“It is also a good chance to be able to prepare students to transfer and to be able to enter the professional world,” Schmiedt said. “… We have to keep up with what is happening in our profession.”
Schmiedt said having something tangible in your hands is fun, however, at the same time, one can replicate that feeling online in a bunch of ways, such as having social media posts with lots of likes and shares.
Schmiedt said seeing the Clarion’s impact is easy with print. However, online publishing is measurable.
Schmiedt said the thing he fears the most is that students leave the college unprepared and not ready for what the university or profession is going to throw at them because they are being taught how the job was done 20 years ago.
“We want them to be able to do the job and foresee what is going to be coming in the next 20 years,” Schmiedt said.
Even though the 30 newspaper stands on the college campus will be gone, Schmiedt said opportunities for serendipity are not. He said the Clarion has more opportunity for serendipity online through social media posts, which it plans to capitalize on.
In terms of on campus visibility and reach, Schmiedt said the Clarion has got big ideas to stay relevant, such as hosting a table in the Campus Center Mall, having display boards in place of the stands, and organizing events on campus in the community as the Clarion and student media.
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