The Student Media Center operates year-round at Bishop Hall, and staff and students were even busier than usual this summer. The SMC spent more than $70,000 on equipment and software upgrades. Websites were redesigned. Broadcast engineer Steven Miller and media tech manager Jared Senseman worked hard to install everything for the start of fall semester. Here are a few highlights:
- NewsWatch Ole Miss has a new switcher, monitors, cameras and related accessories. The newscast should now be much more vivid, and viewers will see more details in true HD quality. A plus is that the new equipment takes up less space and uses less electricity. The student staff will begin training this week to learn how to use the new equipment.
- New software was purchased for all lab machines, including Adobe Creative Cloud for more than 25 computers and Microsoft Office 2019 for all lab machines.
The NewsWatch Ole Miss TV studio.
- The SMC classroom has a new projector with a number of improved features.
- Summer Daily Mississippian editorial staff and adviser Greg Brock worked with Jared to redesign theDMonline.com. It will launch this week. The website has a new theme and is easier to use, with better aesthetics and improved security. The DM site was moved to its own private server, which will increase speed and response times, with a cool mobile version. The old website will be renamed thedmarchives.com, and will be available for as long as we want. It includes previous archives; articles as far back as 2009 will continue to be accessible.
SMC media tech manager Jared Senseman and Daily Mississippian Editor-in-Chief Daniel Payne, putting the finishing touches on the new DM website.
- The DM print edition has also undergone a major redesign. The first print paper of the semester, which includes our annual Back to School special section, will be distributed August 26. The DM will have a print edition three days a week (Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays).
- Rebel Radio’s website is undergoing a major redesign and theme upgrade, led by Hannah Vines and others on the professional staff working with Rebel Radio student staff.
Steven Miller, SMC broadcast engineer. The NewsWatch Ole Miss TV studio.
- If you didn’t check out the yearbook website last year, please do so this year. MacKenzie Ross, editor of the 2019 yearbook, redesigned the site, and it includes some awesome drone footage and content that complements the printed yearbook. This year’s yearbook staff will continue to modernize the website.
- Graduate assistant Ingrid Valbuena is redesigning our recruiting materials.
Steven Miller and Gracyn Ashmore, NewsWatch Ole Miss student manager, in the SMC TV control room.
- TheDMonline.com had 450,000 page views this summer (very unusual for the summer; we’re already close to 1.2 million for the year), and the electronic newsletter has more than 1,100 subscribers.
Be sure to check out the website redesigns, and stop by Bishop Hall to take a look at the new equipment in the studios and newsroom.
Tags: Student Media Center