A Look to the Future: Broadening The Bullet

Last week, The Bullet said farewell to its departing senior editors and welcomed an entirely new editing staff. This transfer of power happens annually, but rarely are the personnel changes so dramatic. Only one page editor from this spring will continue at their position; the rest are graduating or moving to a different position. This new reality brings with it both challenges and opportunities for next year.

In the coming year, expect that The Bullet will increase its new media presence. While specific details are still being discussed, it is clear that the paper must expand its online presence to adapt to journalism’s changing environment.

We plan to maximize the amount of online content to include audio and video in as many stories as possible, in order to take advantage of the unlimited space the digital medium offers. This will allow The Bullet to cover stories differently than it currently does, and present readers with new and more complete information that traditional print journalism prohibits.

Additionally, The Bullet hopes to expand its social media presence to include section blogs, multiple Twitter feeds and a Tumblr account. By this time next year, we hope to offer podcasts on the paper’s website and iTunesU. This will allow for more in-depth discussion of campus and area news.

Space limitations restrict print media from publishing coverage of many events and news stories. By increasing our online focus, it will allow us to offer more complete coverage of campus and Fredericksburg events and issues.

This transition can only happen if The Bullet is able to expand its network to more disciplines, specifically computer science and political science. Increased coverage will require a greater amount of writers for each section with special areas of expertise.

More writers and more coverage will allow The Bullet to become a constant news source for the University of Mary Washington, rather than stay the weekly news source that it now is. More coverage will lead to more visibility, which in turn creates greater accountability and increases the importance of consistent accuracy.