Travis Taylor | Lariat Photo Editor
Editor-in-Chief
A new semester is upon us, and just as Baylor’s campus and students are going through changes, The Baylor Lariat is shaking things up as well. We promise to continue to deliver the news that you want to read, but we are no strangers to the changing times.
The fact of the matter is that the way that people consume news has reformed.
No longer do readers grab a newspaper, pull up a comfortable chair and dive in.
The people that care about what is going on are busy, and the news needs to fit this fast-paced lifestyle.
This is why The Baylor Lariat has switched to a digital-first mentality.
According to Science Daily, more than 77 percent of people between the ages of 16 and 30 use social media as a means to stay informed, while only about 29 percent pick up a physical newspaper.
To adapt to this trend, our stories will be uploaded to our website upon completion so that you won’t have to wait for the newspaper to hit the stands the next morning.
To get these updates via social media, follow @BULariat and @BULariatSports on Twitter and like us on Facebook.
This will allow you to get up-to-the-minute news, and it allows us to interact with you. We frequently ask for student reaction and post different reader polls, and your participation will only lead us closer to the truth.
We also have an app available for Apple and Android products. And no, it will not light up your phone with notifications.
A black-and-white picture on a piece of paper may have worked for Old Tom Morris, but this isn’t your great-great-great-grandfather’s media.
We know that our readers want videos, slideshows and interactive graphics on various devices. It is our hope that you quench your thirst for news via the modern communication outlets.
For the traditionalists among us that still want to hold the news in one hand and coffee in another, don’t fret.
The Lariat will still be delivered throughout campus with the same hard-hitting journalism that helped us earn our fourth straight Lone Star Award for Newspaper of the Year. Our dedication to accuracy and quality are unwavering despite these big changes.
My hope is that all of these changes expand your access to the news and that our improved multimedia will make staying informed an enjoyable experience.
From our Don’t Feed the Bears Podcast to the Baylor Beat, feature videos, opinion pieces and interactive graphics, we are producing enough content to satisfy even the most curious of our readers.
Staying informed and learning helps people grow and improve the world around them.
English author Ann Radcliffe once said, “A well-informed mind is the best security against the contagion of folly and vice. The vacant mind is ever on the watch for relief, and ready to plunge into error to escape the languor of idleness.”
Avoid having a vacant mind and use the resources at your disposal to stay informed. We’ll do our best to keep those resources available.
Greg DeVries is a senior journalism major from Houston. He is the editor-in-chief for the Baylor Lariat.
