Hello, and thanks for opening the first pages of the summer 2009 edition of Emerald Magazine, a publication of the Oregon Daily Emerald, the independent student newspaper at the University.
We wanted to give you, incoming freshmen and parents, a resource to better acquaint you with this campus and the city.
But, of course, we have an ulterior motive — introducing you to the Emerald, which we hope you will continue to read during your years at Oregon.
They’re calling our generation the Millenials, and the way we digest news has shaped the transformation unfolding in the newspaper industry. Nobody has gone financially unscathed during this new media revolution, including the Emerald, which because of its independent status receives no financial support from the University. (A small portion of our funding is provided through the ASUO’s incidental fee, which covers students’ subscription fee. More on the i-fee can be found inside the magazine.)
Not only is the digital age seriously detracting from print advertising revenue, it’s making us all rethink how we cover the news and the way we deliver it. Figuring out how to please you, our readers, is never an easy task. As it turns out, you’re quite picky.
That’s why this year we’re working harder to keep you in the loop. That means blogs updated all day long with the news, sports and entertainment info you need; ODE Twitter feeds covering breaking news, sports events and meeting coverage; more calendars and event information; more multimedia accompanying stories; and a Web site whose content updates throughout the day as stories unfold. We tried to get our hands on some of those moving photographs, but it seems they’re exclusive to the wizarding world (and the press wizards Hunter Thompson wrote of don’t count, evidently).
In short, we’re giving you what you want, when you want it. All you’ve got to do is read.
An informed citizenry is crucial to dialogue, debates and ideas that result in the betterment of education, the environment, society and the world. (And, by the way, any other area you can think of.) It’s no different at the University.
If you want to shape what happens in your community, the 20,000-plus people who learn, live and work on this campus, you simply must take interest in the news. The issues the Emerald covers are ones that directly affect you, and they warrant your attention if you care about your surroundings and how they affect not only your education, but your life.
So stay tuned. And keep an eye out for our annual Back to the Books issue, which hits newsstands the week before classes begin. It’ll have a lot more valuable information and resources for campus newcomers. In the meantime, keep up with the news at dailyemerald.com, and the blogs at blogs.dailyemerald.com.