Web and Social Media
Statesman Website
As the Online Editor-in-Chief, the Statesman website (https://lhsstatesman.com) encompasses much of my role and passions. I believe timely reportage and innovative media elements are vital to journalistic delivery, so I have implemented new strategies to enliven stories. From emphasizing photos in story templates to promoting diverse beat coverage, I look to present articles to audiences in captivating ways.
When it comes to timely updates of different story beats for the publication, I help staff members brainstorm ideas that ensure we have constistent coverage across all of them. This way, I can guide our website to have approximately one story uploaded in each category per week of school.
For my personal stories, I frequently incorporate photos into my story template. This provides specific visuals for topics discussed in articles and breaks up blocks of text for more effective audience delivery.
I have also presented community events visually through photo galleries. For more visual-centered topics like a holiday parade, I found that photos deliver the story most effectively.
I vary my story templates to better immerse readers right as they open the webpage. Furthermore, I publish news stories within the week of that event occurring. In this way, I focus on the timely delivery of my personal stories because deadlines are at the heart of effective journalism.
Outside of photo elements, I also appropriately present stories by using pull quotes to emphasize the main statements from interviewees.
Statesman Social Media
The Statesman has both Instagram and Facebook accounts where we post several times a week. This school year, we surpassed 1,000 followers, with more than 1,180 followers for both accounts. We pride ourselves on our variety of posts aimed at informing students, parents, alumni and many others in viewership on local, school and Statesman-specific events. We also commonly post video interviews on social media, displaying our embracement of multimedia elements.
We diversify our posts to keep our followers interested and informed. With posts like one describing the schedule of the annual Sioux Falls Native American Day Parade, we tell of city events. Other times, we post weekly schedules and Student of the Month announcements that matter to LHS-specific audiences. We also bring public attention to Statesman matters, whether it be local recognition, staff spotlights or recent stories. In the end, our social media is fast-moving and varied, giving followers a look into matters affecting them and the publication itself.