The UTD Mercury reconstructed its website and released an improved version April 1, at www.utdmercury.com.
The new site will have features to supplement the paper edition and can be updated between editions of the printed newspaper, said Aidan Skoyles, Mercury advertising manager.
“It is really difficult as a biweekly paper to cover all events on campus…the website will allow for updates when we don’t have an issue coming out,” Skoyles said.
In addition to helping with the timeliness of the news reporting, websites serve as a secondary medium for all newspapers – collegiate and commercial.
“All papers, even student newspapers have a website these days. We’ve got to keep up with the times,” Skoyles said. With the creation of utdmercury.com, The UTD Mercury joins top-tier university papers.
Mercury webmaster Colin Wetherbee will maintain the weekly updates to the site and has orchestrated the design process to this point. He designed the website through College Publisher, a Boston-based company which specializes in college website hosting.
“Using College Publisher we can get a much more professional looking site, and it’s much easier to update and maintain than something we could create ourselves,” Wetherbee said.
“We understand that many students had not visited our previous website,” said Michael Seeligson, interim Mercury editor. “We hope that the new website will provide access to our news content, while also providing interesting and useful links to the reader.”
The mixed student opinion concerning the website indicates that many readers still prefer the feel of paper in their hands, Seeligson added.
Rozell Jones, a freshman psychology major, said she expects to continue to rely on the printed publication even with the launch of a new, improved website.
“I will still use the paper because it is more accessible…and I can read it on the way to class or in the Student Union,” Jones said.
Students who are often on the computer, such as Hieu Huynh, a sophomore biology major, look forward to the web version.
“(I would use the website) because I’m always online,” Huynh said.