Most of you are probably reading this online. Over 60 percent of our readership is digital, so starting in the fall of 2016, The Daily Gamecock will appear in print only twice a week.
This doesn’t mean we will produce less content. On the contrary, a primarily online platform will give us the opportunity to further explore multimedia projects and daytime publication. Rather than a flood of stories each morning Monday through Thursday, there will be content going up throughout the day, seven days a week.
The idea of reducing our print production further has been in discussion for several years, and the decision was made this spring in order to keep up with the evolution of new media. This is a digital generation, and you are digital consumers. We are responsible for publishing articles and visuals that are timely and relevant to the student body and for doing so in a form that appeals to you.
Printing two times a week instead of four requires a change in our culture as a staff. We are accustomed to working in the newsroom late into the night for half the week. In order to get stories published throughout the day, we will be moving to a daytime production process that functions mainly within the typical nine-to-five workday.
With this switch comes many challenges. We can plan every detail and predict every unfortunate eventuality, but inevitably there will be obstacles we can’t foresee. We might make mistakes, but our dedication to our readers won’t change. The quality of our content — print and online — will be held to the same high standard it always has been.
Come what may, we’ll still be doin’ it daily.