The Minaret is accomplishing a major milestone this week by establishing a permanent presence online. Our official website is http://www.theminaretonline.com.
For all of our editors and staff, this change is the culmination of a year’s worth of constant improvements to the quality of our newspaper, all of which everyone is proud to have accomplished.
In the world of journalism, “convergence” is the buzzword of the moment. The modern media blends together print, online and broadcast forms as a single source of public information. No longer are newspapers simply a few pieces of paper with recent news stories printed on them. More and more, people go online to not only read the news, but to watch and listen to streaming newscasts, discuss events and issues via online posting and messaging capabilities, and even publish their own journalistic content. Therefore, it is only natural that The Minaret should seek to become more than just a campus newspaper.
Those who have been at UT for a good while may recall The Minaret’s Web site effort two years ago. The old website was a short success. However, it eventually disappeared as our constantly evolving staff was unable to maintain it.
The new website is a far cry from the old one. The momentum of our growth as a publication, as well as the overall reorganization we have undergone throughout this past year, will ensure that the online edition of The Minaret will be an integral part of our publication for years to come.
We hope that our readers will enjoy the benefits that an online edition provides, most notably the ability to give direct feedback to our editors and writers.
The calendar on the website is the place for everyone at UT to post relevant campus events, so that for the first time everyone can know what is happening on campus at given time on any given day. The calendar will bring together UT as an active campus community.
As we continue to grow, look for other new developments. We plan to eventually produce video newscasts that visitors to our website can view, in addition to other multimedia features. Until then, we hope that our website will be a useful tool for receiving and dispensing information for everyone in the UT community.