A relatively new competitor among collegiate news Web sites, LeeClarion.com, the online edition of Lee University’s student news media, is already winning awards.LeeClarion.com debuted in 2008 to complement and expand upon the print edition of the Lee Clarion by providing easy access to up-to-date information, a digital archive of articles and helpful features including polls and real-time weather results.
In recent months LeeClarion.com has expanded to include a full video gallery, serving as a news station to the campus, and a blog operated by the newspaper editors.
LeeClarion.com won first place for the Overall World-Wide Web Site at the 2008 Collegiate Journalism Conference in Nashville, Tennessee.
More recently, LeeClarion.com was selected as a 2009 Associated Collegiate Press Online Pacemaker finalist. Competition winners are scheduled to be announced this November.
In the first eight months of operation, LeeClarion.com received nearly 60,000 page views alone.
The Lee Clarion has made a splash in social media in recent months, opening accounts on services like Facebook and Twitter. The result is two-fold.
In addition to providing readers with faster breaking news, the social sites have contributed to the dialogue, enabling readers to participate in conversation with the Lee Clarion by commenting on posts and submitting story tips.
The Lee Clarion currently has nearly 2,550 fans and followers across the two services. Both Facebook and Twitter allow readers to subscribe to news updates from the Lee Clarion on their cell phones for instant coverage.
The Lee Clarion has also used its Facebook page to show off the award-winning talent of the Lee University Student Media photography staff.
During the 2008-2009 academic year over 9,000 pictures of campus events and news stories were uploaded to the Lee Clarion Facebook page, engaging fans with high-quality photos.
Every time a new album is uploaded, readers receive an invitation to view the latest album, tag their friends, share the pictures and write comments for others to see. Instead of keeping Lee’s talented photographers’ work constricted, the Lee Clarion encourages fans to view the archives and share the content.
The Lee Clarion recently launched a video news station on LeeClarion.com bringing in well over 5,000 views since its inception at the beginning of the 2008-2009 school year.
The video gallery encourages student journalists who are interested in video news to learn how to report on-camera and tell a story through visual means.
By utilizing social media including blogs and profiles as well as finding new ways to deliver fresh photos and video news reports, the LeeClarion is on the forefront of the digital media revolution.
Student journalists at Lee University have an outlet to engage their talents, in writing, editing, reporting, designing, or taking photos for the Lee Clarion.
The student media newsroom (located at PCSU 104) provides students working on the Lee Clarion with a highly-equipped office filled with the proper technology and software necessary to produce quality and award-winning news.
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