Editorial
Communiqué, SIPA’s student-run campus newspaper, and The Morningside Post, SIPA’s student- run news and opinion blog, have merged into a single multimedia publication, called The Morningside Post.
Its primary focus will be investigative reporting, hard news and analysis and thorough editing. It will cover all things SIPA, from Lehman to the Dean´s office, and consider global issues from the perspective of the SIPA community.
It will also be sophisticated and up-to-the-minute in its web publishing, building on its net-radical history. It will employ social media, video, live streaming, data visualization, speed and a constantly improving Web site (www.themorningsidepost. com) to deliver content in the forms that today’s newsreaders expect.
Over the last few years, the forces that divided the two publications have weakened. As at other traditional newspapers, Communiqué’s original print-only approach became insufficient.
Editors at The Morningside Post too, like those at other online-only publications, have felt the need for the site to mature and professionalize. In the last few years, they have moved it away from its lightly-edited roots toward a higher standard of opinion credibility and writing quality.
In deciding on the merger, editors aimed at addressing Communiqué’s acute need for a strong web presence. The alternative of working with their well established sister publication seemed preferable to building from scratch.
The entire staff of The Morningside Post, moreover, were either presently working at Communiqué or had done so previously.
The Morningside Post’s name was chosen to take advantage of its existing online presence. Editors felt the reference to Columbia´s Morningside neighborhood was appropriate for the site´s new focus. That, and `The Morningside Post´ felt intangibly more newspaper-like.
Communiqué will be missed, and its spirit will live on in the new Morningside Post. The editors hope the merger will foster a stronger and more vibrant student-run news media at SIPA and further the original intentions of both publications.
Excellent work. An idea truly geared toward efficiency; smart, given the changing (online) face of media. Bravo.
A friend on Twitter tipped me off to this, and as both a co-founder of TMP and a former Commnique editor, let me say that I’m very pleased with what you guys have continued to do here. Good luck as you work to continue to stay on the cutting edge of delivering SIPA’s expertise on the world around us.