Journalism Leads Transition to Digital-First Media

MustangNews.net is now the portal for all
news produced by journalism students.

Change is in the air for Cal Poly’s Journalism Department. It takes the form of the new Mustang News, an integrated, digital-first student news organization. The department is one of the first in the California State University system to combine print, broadcast and digital operations, and this move is quickly altering the manner in which student journalists deliver news to the Cal Poly community. 

As part of the integrated news approach, Mustang News now reaches across platforms, going beyond a traditional twice-weekly print edition (formerly Mustang Daily) to also include a weekly 30-minute news broadcast on CPTV, daily five-minute audio news updates on KCPR-FM, a daily five-minute TV show online, multimedia packages online, stories on the Mustang News mobile app, live video streaming on YouTube, and breaking news and community engagement on Twitter and Facebook. The portal for all news produced by journalism students is nowMustangNews.net.  

Mustang News is also collaborating with public relations and marketing students to help promote events and news content. Public relations efforts are focused on addressing today’s audiences, which expect the news to come to them. So the launch of Mustang News has propelled a wave of social media and outreach projects to connect with the campus and beyond.

The business operation that supports the Mustang News enterprise has undergone change as well. Mustang Media Group is the new umbrella organization that provides financial support for print, broadcast and digital production and is working with the student-run public relations agency, CCPR, to monetize its services where appropriate.

The staff and students who work behind the scenes have traditionally sold advertising in the newspaper. Now they are also selling digital and broadcast ad packages, producing numerous special sections and events, and providing marketing and video services — capitalizing on key skills to expand revenue opportunities.

MMG provides students from across Cal Poly practical experience in running the business end of a modern media organization, while the multiple platforms of Mustang News function like laboratories for students to practice their reporting and writing skills and acquire proficiency with a variety of technologies. Both experiences result in students developing skills required for success in a profession that is undergoing monumental change. 

As a whole, the integration has cultivated an environment of cooperation that encourages all media platforms to supplement one another, breaking down the “silos” that have traditionally separated print journalism, broadcast and public relations.

J.J. Jenkins, editor-in-chief of Mustang News, notes that recent coverage of Cal Poly athletics provides “the perfect example of each platform enhancing one another.” During October’s important Cal Poly vs. UCSB soccer match, six reporters were on the scene to relate the story from different angles, photographers quickly submitted their game shots for instant posting on the website, videos were uploaded, and the social media team promoted the hashtag #BlueGreen to unite the coverage on social media platforms.

“The result was a multimedia story we produced the following week that was unlike anything Mustang News had attempted before,” Jenkins said. 

With the merging of platforms, Mustang News reporters and staff are adapting to a professional media environment that is increasingly turning to digital formats to expand news content. As part of the new curriculum this fall, the department launched JOUR 462, a course taught by Professor Brady Teufel to support students’ proficiency in multimedia journalism. 

The course, titled “Advanced Media Practicum,” works with Mustang News to help students get comfortable delivering news in print, broadcast, online, mobile and social platforms.

As campus media complete the transition, audiences may be worried about digital or broadcast getting priority over print, but they can rest easy, because as Jenna Watson, student manager and Mustang News public relations director, notes, Mustang News actually encourages users to access the news in multiple ways. Mustang News plays to each platform’s strengths, allowing each to focus on what it does best. 

“We will still do the traditional media through the print edition. But we’re breaking news 24/7 on the website, and we’re going back to the roots of long-form journalism,” Watson said.

The print edition's gradual return to long-form journalism will provide readers with more developed stories and more content. Additionally, the use of digital platforms will allow print reporters the time they need to develop longer articles.

As the quarter winds down to a swift close, faculty and students are discussing ways to improve and expand in the new year. High on the list is finding ways to expand news and public affairs programming on KCPR, which is currently devoted to playing alternative music. “We haven’t really capitalized on KCPR and all the potential that it has,” Watson said. 

In addition, Watson said that student leaders are continually engaged in conversation to increase communication between all platforms to avoid story overlap and form a more cohesive news group.   

“Our duty as journalists is to inform the public, and with the explosion of multimedia and the evolution of the Internet, we had to find a way to capture our audience’s attention,” said Jenkins. “The new Mustang News is telling stories in more diverse ways than ever.”

Only in its first quarter of existence, Mustang News is already changing the way the community thinks of its news in a dynamic world. 

“The organization we’ve put together is on the cutting edge of journalism, not just student journalism,” Jenkins noted, “and we’re not done progressing yet.”