Online News Portal Launches at University
The University’s new innovative news portal launched last week in the Jules Plangere Building. The Verge is the first s tudent-run o nline news outlet on campus.
It is a multimedia website containing videos, audio, and pictures alongside the articles posted. The news portal is completely student run; all of the stories are researched, written, and posted by students. Mass media is heading towards new platforms and the students at the University have jumped at the opportunity.
“The Verge is a great way for students to adapt to new technology,” said Lisa Tobia, a junior and writer for The Verge.
The online new portal is made possible through WordPress, a personal publishing software established in 2003. This is what allows the students to embed links and pictures with their stories. It also allows readers to comment on those stories.
The Verge has been in progress for about a year now, and last Wednesday’s launch party was deemed very successful. “It felt great,” said The Verge’s faculty advisor and creator, Professor Marina Vujnovic. “About 50 people showed up. Even President Gaffney attended.”
Faculty and students squeezed themselves into room 206 to help celebrate the commencement of The Verge. President Paul Gaffney gave a speech along with Dr. Chad Dell and Professor Vujnovic.
“This has been a year’s wait,” said Tom Ranzweiler, the Editorin- Chief of The Verge. Ranzweiler, along with Associate Editor Kayla Inglima, have worked with Professor Vujnovic on this project since last spring semester.
However, The Verge has been in progress since long before that. Vujnovic said she’s thought about this since she received the teaching position back in 2008, and from that time on she’s worked with Professor John Morano, Professor Dell, and Rupa Dasgupta from the IT department to make The Verge possible.
“The online news portal isn’t meant to be competition to The Outlook,” said Vujnovic, “I just wanted to give the students more of a variety. It is more than just an online paper; it’s a news portal to the world. To bring convergence to the media and to create excitement about new media while giving students experience in journalism and multimedia is the ambition behind the whole project.”
The stories on the website range from student problems, sports, pop-culture and events in the community.
Links to other major news sources can also be found on The Verge’s website, along with links to the other University’s student organizations: Shadow PR, The Outlook, CommWorks, Hawk TV and WMCX. The website as a whole is very organized and easy to navigate.
The Verge will be updated as often as possible, the goal is to update the website daily but it will be updated at least weekly.
“Every few days is a new story,” said Inglima.
Although The Verge is in its infancy, more than a handful of students are already actively involved. Currently 20 students are involved, with seven completing their practicum through The Verge this semester. If interested in becoming involved, students can submit stories directly on The Verge’s website, or contact Vujnovic.
“I’m happy to hear from everyone,” she said. “The more the merrier.”
PHOTO COURTESY of theverge.monmouth.edu
