Our Site is Going mobile (soon anyway)

I have the opportunity to work with two very talented individuals, Kaylee Nichols and Jeremy Allen. As the multimedia editors for The Johnsonian, both work to upload stories to the website each week and shoot/edit videos for our multimedia page.

In addition to their normal workload, both work with me to help improve the look and functionality of mytjnow.com.

One of our goals this year was to “go mobile” with mytjnow.com, and a few weeks ago we shared our beta mock-up of a potential mobile application. At this point we have decided to move with a mobile version of our website (something that would not be native, but would work with mobile devices across the board). Earlier this week Kaylee Nichols showed off her amazing talent with a new look for our mobile website. The link is: http://www.mytjnow.com/storage/2011-2012/codeplayground/kaylee_mobile/about-us.html (I know its long but its worth it…also keep in mind this is still in beta so expect bugs!!!!!!). So if you have a mobile device, help us out by giving it a try, and commenting on it! What do you like, what don’t you like? What would you like to see?

The next part of this project will mating this site to our current site, a task that Jeremy is currently working on with the help of our freshmen “intern” Will Connell.

TJ’s mission is to always provide Winthrop University with news and views no matter where you are, and we will always push to make our content more accessible to the public. In addition to that is our transparency, something we have already addressed on this blog. However one thing that we do not get to talk about often is our collaborative nature. The Johnsonian is not just a room full of journalism majors, rather it is a mixing pot of various disciplines that come together each week to produce 100% student work. It is a place where WU students can come in and showcase their talents, and I am very proud to be part of such an organization.

On behalf of the TJ staff,

Devang Joshi – Webmaster The Johnsonian

Mistakes Happen

Dear Winthrop community,

I am sorry to say that, in our Sept. 8 edition, we made a mistake.

On the front page story “Phelps Hall gains new sinks, lobby elevator,” we printed the residence hall would reopen in the spring, but it really reopens next fall.

It was a human mistake, and nothing more than a mere typo. As journalists, however, we always strive for truth, accuracy and timeliness, which is why I am apologizing for our grave misprint.

It was not a single person’s fault, since many people could have caught the misprint. Instead, we will take this experience in stride and learn from it.

Mistakes, though rare, will occur – but you can always be sure The Johnsonian will do everything in our power to correct and make up for our typos.

We are, after all, students, but we realize the Winthrop community relies on us for accurate information. Please continue holding us to that standard, and we’ll continue providing you with news you can use. A correction will be printed on the front page of our Sept. 15 edition, and if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact me.

I am, after all , here to serve Winthrop.

Sincerely,

Claire Byun – Editor-in-Chief

News Editor takes mistake to heart

Readers, I’ve made a grave mistake.

Some could say it was a small slip-up. Others may not care. Still, others may be outraged.

For us at The Johnsonian, every mistake stings. Every misspelled word singes. Every grammatical error or misstep in syntax aches.

Our profession by operational definition demands we be accurate, fair, balanced, ethical, moral and right.

We at the paper – though students we may be – want to get it right.

Most of us have worked internships or freelance positions at professional papers. A lot of us have been on this staff since our freshman or sophomore years. We’re not novices…but we are human.

I made a very human error by typing “fall” instead of “spring” in the opening of my story, “Phelps adds sinks in rooms, lobby elevator” for the Sept. 8 issue of The Johnsonian. The story ran on the front page.

Imagine my heartbreak when I thumbed through the product of hours of labor and saw this one little mistake. Granted, it’s a pretty big mistake because it takes the ‘when’ in the who, what, when, where and why formula of crafting a story and throws it for a loop.

I don’t know why I didn’t see it BEFORE we went to press. I don’t know why my eyes ran through it and saw ‘spring’ instead of ‘fall.’ Perhaps my mind harmonized what I already knew and so I was blinded to the truth.

I don’t know why I made an error, but I did, and I take complete responsibility for it.

If this has harmed anyone in any way or caused any inconvenience, I profusely apologize.

We at the paper want to maintain a good, professional, trustworthy rapport with the people we serve thus every mistake is a small flame to that delicate fabric.

Once again, I apologize and promise to you a renewed re-commitment of accuracy in what I publish.

With many blessings,

Jonathan McFadden – News Editor

Whats new?

It’s been a few weeks since our last blog post, but we have not forgotten. First, thank you to our readers for making the first week of September one of our most successful in terms of web traffic! We will continue to do our part to provide Winthrop University, and the surrounding community with clear, concise and objective news and media.

In August, we asked you to sound off, to let us know about changes you would like to see on our site. We asked, you responded and we have been working hard to create more online content and a site that is more accessible (such as with mobile devices). With that in mind, we have started work on a mobile version of our site (as mentioned in our previous post) as well as a larger video presence.

TJ is moving towards a comprehensive news experience, combining our print and web mediums to give you the complete story. This means more photographs and videos online to supplement the content in print. This also means more content in general, with stories online between publications. As the weeks progress, look for more multimedia on our site (paired with stories and at: http://www.mytjnow.com/multimedia/).

In addition to the new content, you may have noticed some changes in the look of our site. We are always working to improve the esthetics, and usability of our site for our entire audience, and we will continue to do so as time progresses. Some changes that have become active are; our new search bar in our header/footer, a redesigned homepage content slider, a new archives page, a new contact us page, and fresh content on our multimedia page).

So we’ve been working hard, but again we need your help! What do you think about our changes? Do you have any comments? LET US KNOW! Come out to our Sunday meetings (8PM in the campus center, room 104) or shoot us an email at editors@mytjnow.com.

On behalf of the entire TJ staff,

Devang Joshi – Webmaster The Johnsonian

We asked, you responded

Thanks to everyone who voted in our poll from a few days ago. It looks like everyone is really interested in more content for the web as well as more online video. So taking your feed back, the TJ staff has begun the process of getting you the content you desire. Starting this Sunday at our weekly meeting, the staff will begin the process of assigning more stories to our writers, to provide you the reader with the web content you crave. Video will also begin to populate the site (so look out for our staffers lugging cameras around!).

Finally I am pleased to announce our “very much in beta” mobile website. Heading up this project is our assistant multimedia editor Jeremy Allen (allenj@mytjnow.com). Got a mobile device? Help us with the testing. Check us out here: http://www.mytjnow.com/storage/2011-2012/codeplayground/jquerymobile-10b1/Home_beta_1-00.html (I know its a long url). Let us know how the interface works and what you would like to see!

Interested in writing, photography or design for TJ?? Come to our first Sunday budget meeting of the year this Sunday August 21st at 8pm in our offices.

Questions, comments or concerns? Email us at: editors@mytjnow.com

Until next time,

Devang Joshi – Webmaster for The Johnsonian

Video on Mytjnow.com

As stated in our first post, the purpose of this blog is to provide transparancy to our readers. Keeping with that, I would like to share with you our research into HTML 5 video. Currently, TJ uses YouTube to host its videos. In the future we would like to exploit HTML 5′s video capabilities.

Please check out our HTML 5 video testing page: http://www.mytjnow.com/storage/2011-2012/codeplayground/video/video.html

On that page, you will find our demo HTML 5 video, as well as a link to a quick write up I prepared.

Let us know what you think! Want to deploy HTML 5 video into your site? Need Help? Comment away and we can help get you started.

Thanks for reading,

Devang Joshi – Webmaster

We need your input!

Next week, The Johnsonian will be holding its annual staff workshop. During this time, the staff comes together to discuss new ideas and to create the first issue of the year. For the 2011/2012 school year, we want to expand our webservices…to bring you, our loyal readers, more of the content you want to read about and see online. So help us by answering the poll below! Your input matters to us so help us get you the content you want!

-Devang Joshi Webmaster