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We’ve fixed it …

Posted August 28th, 2006. By Dave Studinski. In From the Editor.

Many of our avid readers noticed an error with our PDF archive during the Summer and into the start of Fall Semester.

We’ve figured it out.

A small line of code signifying the end date of the calendar needed to be updated. (As it turns out, someone didn’t see a reason to have the calendar run beyond May 30, 2006.) In any event, the feature is now active and working.

Thanks to those of you who wrote us about the problem and for the patience you had while we resolved it.

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To be blunt …

Posted April 20th, 2006. By Dave Studinski. In From the Editor.

Today is April 20, 2006. It’s 4.20, or depending on how you see it: 420, 4/20, 4-20 or just *giggle.*

We’re not naive at the Daily News, nor should we pretend to be. The staff is well aware of what today’s date signifies to many people, as if the surplus of four-twenty advertisements in our paper today aren’t a strong enough hint. It’s the so-called “International Pot Smokers Holiday.

Some debate went into today’s front page package on salvia and whether we were sending a negative message by publishing the story on 4/20.

“Would we be better off running it one day before or after?” I asked the staff. “No - we’re not ignorant. We know what 4/20 means.”

It’s true - we do. Although the DN staff as a whole may not necessarily agree with the basis for 4/20, it doesn’t mean we collectively disagree with it, either. We’re a mixed group of people, similar to any other sample of students. While we are share a common interest in journalism and news, we still have our own opinions about what’s right and wrong.

We’re not trying to promote 4/20 beyond it’s newsworthiness on a college campus, but we’re not going to play foolish, either. If there’s a most topical day for salvia to be discussed, today is surely that day.

The DN editorial board does agree on one thing, though - ending apathy. Today’s editorial illustrates a more collective feel of the staff, encouraging people on both sides of the drug debate to get involved and express their opinions respectfully and peacefully.

Whichever side you sit on, don’t be afraid to light up the conversation with your thoughts.

Was today the right day to run the package on salvia? Leave us your thoughts below in the comment area.

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State-wide Pride

Posted April 10th, 2006. By Dave Studinski. In From the Editor.

On Saturday, Daily News staff members and editors traveled to the University of Indianapolis for the annual Indiana Collegiate Press Association convention and awards ceremony. Overall, The Daily News tied with Indiana University’s Indiana Daily Student for Best Division I Newspaper. That overall ranking is a measurement of the total number of individual awards a respective paper received, with point values awarded to higher placings.

What follows is a list of individual and staff awards for the Daily News, as awarded by The Indiana Collegiate Press Association.

Best Single Issue
- Third Place: Dec. 12, 2005

Best Special Issue
- Third Place: Roll Call

Best Pullout Section
- Second Place: Holiday Tab

Best Non-Deadline News Story
- Second Place: Andy Zeigert, “Boom goes the dynamite!”

Best Investigative Story
- First Place: Justin Hesser, Will O’Hargan, Ross Flint, “Textbook scandal”
- Third Place: Justin Hesser, “Sick Leave”

Best Opinion Column
- Second Place: Dave Studinski, “Livestrong”

Best News Feature Story
- Second Place: Adrian Sharp, “What makes a man?”
- Third Place: Kim Robinson and Emily Ortman, “Student relives hurricane”

Best Entertainment Feature Story
- Second Place: Mary Beth Lehman, “Game over: You’re addicted”

Best Sports News Story
- Second Place: Justin Hesser, “Violators named”

Best Sports Feature Story
- First Place: Sean Stevenson, “Krista Mitts”
- Second Place: Will O’Hargan, “Sweet 16”

Best News or Feature Series
- First Place: Whitney Hoyt, “James Barham”
- Second Place: Staff, “Having it our way”

Best Front Page
- First Place: Shawn Barkdull, “Violators Named”

Best Inside Page
- First Place: Brandon Stuck, “Star Wars, Episode III”
- Third Place: Andy Zeigert, “From grain to glass”

Best News Photo
- Third Place: Matt Berry, “Professor documents Supreme Court history”

Best Feature Photo
- First Place: Nicholas Benner, “A key connection”

Best Sports Photo
- Third Place: Will Vragovic, “Globetrotters”

Best Photo Essay
- First Place: Jeff Furticella, “What makes a man?”

Best Information Graphic
- First Place: Brandon Stuck, “The color of money”
- Second Place: Emily Kuzniar, “Hubble”

Best Illustration
- First Place: Brandon Stuck, “Tiny Adams”

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Converge for the Better

Posted March 23rd, 2006. By Dave Studinski. In From the Editor.

Frequent visitors to the DN|Online may notice a new addition to the top of the site today: the Ball State Media Partners’ bar.
No - not that sort of bar, but rather a series of links representing our fellow student media outlets at the university. (It’s missing from this blog site right now, but we’re working on that.)
Earlier this year, students, staff and faculty in the College of Communication, Information and Media got together to discuss the future of media convergence at Ball State. Out of the numerous brainstorming sessions we’ve been involved in, one of the most liked ideas was the addition of a universal link bar across all the student media Web sites.

As you see, this idea has come to fruition.

Many users noticed the change at the launch of our site redesign earlier this year. Until this school year, Ball State’s student media were distant from one another - rarely working together or socializing. Admittedly, there’s still a long way to go until perfection — but we’re at least well on our way.

NewsLink, WCRD and the DN proudly display the bar as of today. In the meanwhile, Expo’s presence on the Web continues to be developed and Ball Bearings is working on adding the bar to its pages, as well. By the end of the year, we hope to launch an even bigger project that promises to be your first place for news in Muncie and around Ball State.

Since our media partner links have moved to the top of the site, the DN LINKS area will soon transform into something different, providing more “quick links” within the DN site. We welcome your comments for what those links should be and encourage you to e-mail editor@bsudailynews.com with your suggestions.

In the interim, we hope you enjoy these exciting developments in Ball State media.

We certainly are.

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A bite of the (big) apple

Posted March 19th, 2006. By Dave Studinski. In From the Editor.

NEW YORK CITY — Seven members of the Daily News Staff, DN Adviser Vince Filak and I are closing out our stay in New York City for the Spring 2006 College Media Advisers Convention.

In our print edition, we make a habit of not tooting our own horn too often. As journalists, we’re not to be the point of the story … however, in some situations we, too, make news. In the interest of letting you know what we’ve been up to, I think it’s fair to mention why eight key members of our staff hopped a flight to NYC Wednesday.

The Ball State Daily News received two of the highest collegiate media honors for the second consecutive year Saturday. For Fall Semester 2004 and Spring Semester 2005, the DN picked up two Columbia Scholastic Press Association Gold Crown awards.

As for our individual staff members, the DN received a total of 34 Gold Circle awards in categories ranging from newswriting to page design - the most of any school nationwide. More »

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Experiment in Dissemination

Posted March 14th, 2006. By Dave Studinski. In From the Editor.

You’ve stumbled upon the latest addition to the DN|Online — welcome to DN|Blog.

This is the Daily News’ testing ground for all things news and opinion. As a newspaper, the DN is typically restricted to the space we have in print, but with the launch of the updated DN|Online in January and the start of this trendy blogging venture this month, we’re able to provide our readers with an entirely different outlook on events and stories.

Through this blog, we’re working to make our editorial process more transparent for our readers. We want you to know what we’re doing behind the scenes today to bring you the latest information tomorrow. We’ve empowered our section editors and various DN staff members with the ability to publish the latest information, thoughts and commentary straight to this site. It can happen anytime, from anywhere and for any reason.

We’ve decided to simplify the process, too. Contrary to other news blog sites, the Daily News is using one blog to publish everything. No more site hopping from section to section or editor to editor — all of our exclusive content is on one page with the ability for you to divide the posts by category. Spend last time digging through multiple windows and more time reading about what matters to you.

We’d love to tell you what to expect on this blog in the coming weeks, but — to be frank — we’re really not sure, either. That’s part of the fun starting this blog — an exciting chance for us to disseminate information and thoughts from the newsroom to the public in a completely unorthodox fashion. While we’ll still continue to post Breaking News and DN|Updates when necessary, you can expect to see news tips and leads posted on DN|Blog before it becomes a story.

Be sure to continue checking DN|Blog for updates 24/7, but more importantly: Get involved! Post your comments and thoughts to ours by using the comment feature built into the blog.

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We’ve fixed it …

To be blunt …

State-wide Pride

Converge for the Better

A bite of the (big) apple

Experiment in Dissemination