Post editor Jim Ryan welcomes alumni to campus and highlights portions of his “State of The Post” speech.
Current Post staffers are welcoming our alumni back to campus this weekend for two days of networking, reminiscing and Court Street shuffling. (For those who are of age, of course.)
As part of our festivities, it’s customary for the Post editor to present a “State of The Post” speech. It’s only appropriate for me to share some of the highlights of my speech with you.
Since our last alumni reunion, we have made significant improvements to The Post’s digital operation. In brief: we have launched a new website and online newsletter; created several newsroom positions dedicated to digital development; significantly increased our social media following; and made the decision to soon begin hosting Google Consumer Surveys on thepostathens.com.
We have reported on high-interest topics such as the September 2014 “blood bucket challenge” and ensuing controversy; sexual assault in Southeast Ohio; the gunshots fired on Court Street during the Halloween Block Party; student protests; the Pat Kelly trial; the Union Street fire; and the meteoric success of Ohio’s women’s basketball team. Three of our employees are currently in Arizona covering the team’s NCAA Tournament run.
Such digital initiatives and robust coverage of the above topics — and many others — has led to sizable gains in online readership. The Post’s digital readership has increased by approximately a third this academic year, according to several audience metrics.
Our newspaper, the lone college daily in Ohio, remains an important part of our mission. The newspaper looks better than ever, in my humble opinion, and is a go-to source of news for thousands of students, Ohio University employees and Athens residents.
The Ohio Newspaper Association has recognized The Post for its reporting, newspaper design, digital efforts and editorial and headline writing. The publication placed in almost every category during the organization’s annual conference in February.
We also recently distributed an online survey that asked students about their news consumption habits, experience at Ohio University, and how The Post can better serve them. We’re making sense of the results now. True to our word, we’ve notified four respondents that they won a $20 Big Mamma’s Burritos gift certificate for their efforts.
And looking toward the future, the Post Publishing Board will be selecting The Post’s next editor-in-chief Friday, setting in motion a flurry of planning for the 2015-16 academic year.
I would like to thank our alumni for all the work they do to help The Post. In addition to coordinating Post events and fundraising efforts, our alumni are incredible resources to current staffers. I will be proud to join their ranks in six weeks.
As always, thanks for reading.
Jim Ryan is a senior studying journalism and political science and editor-in-chief of The Post. Contact him at jr992810@ohio.edu or on Twitter at @Jimryan015.
