Bledsonian expands and improves digital footprint
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While The Bledsonian-Banner had “good bones” starting out, it still needed help advancing its digital footprint. Middle Tennessee State University (MTSU) sophomore Jaeda Jackson was chosen to spend a week working with the traditional newspaper to improve and expand its digital presence.
This was made possible through the Walt Potter Digital Ambassadors Program and the Tennessee Press Foundation. The Walt Potter Digital Ambassadors Program originated in Missouri. Walt Potter Jr. partnered with the University of Missouri to provide newspapers with on-site digital expertise to enhance their online presence and audience engagement.
The Bledsonian-Banner was one of six Tennessee newspapers across the state to be chosen and paired with a student from MTSU.
“After hearing Mr. Potter speak at the Tennessee Press Association’s (TPA) summer convention about the ambassador program, I knew we needed to apply,” said Publisher Sandy Dodson. “When I received word we were chosen, a whole new world of opportunity opened for our publications.”
Jackson, a resident of Chattanooga, was selected to work with Dodson and her graphic designer, Becky Barger, for one week. During the week, they improved the newspaper’s website, revamped their social media presence on Facebook and added Instagram, along with developing a newsletter for Valley Publishing’s two newspapers, The Bledsonian-Banner and The Dunlap Tribune, in the future.
Jackson led them on a journey that should improve the interaction of the Bledsonian’s readers, both in print and online.
She got her start at MTSU as a freshman working at MTSU Sidelines, which is the student-run publication.
“It’s completely editorially independent from the university, which is fantastic,” said Jackson. “I started with just making social media content as one of the creators. And this year, I became the social media manager, which is an editorial position.”
She went to a retreat over the summer for editors and met TPA Executive Director Mark Millsap who talked with the students about the ambassador program.
Jackson said the digital ambassador program would enhance what she wants to do in the future, providing digital and social media assistance.
“I think that the program is a great idea,” said Jackson. “It’s really what I’m kind of fashioning my mission statement as a soon-to-be graduate, wanting to connect, with well-established, more traditional newspapers to the upcoming generation of Americans and citizens, through helping them with digital content and fleshing out some of these digital ideas that would make connecting those communities easier—especially in a time where a lot of people are looking for information—wanting it quickly, but also being concerned about whether information is reliable or being concerned about biases and wanting to make sure that they’re finding things that are like good information. That its not from someone who doesn’t know what they’re talking about on the internet.”
Once she was notified she was being paired with the The Bledsonian-Banner, she said she looked at the newspaper’s website.
“I was like, okay, this isn’t bad because we (fellow ambassadors) all kind of got together and we’re looking at our websites for the papers that we had compared to,” said Jackson. “I was like, where even is this?”
She jokingly said her hope was to be paired with nice people who are ready to learn and that’s exactly what she got with Dodson and Barger.
“You guys started out with good bones,” Jackson told the newspaper staff. “The willingness to learn is here, the open-mindedness is here, the ability to catch on, the curiosity, the asking questions, is gonna really bring you guys far in growing the paper, and wanting to establish a foothold in the community, a more established foothold in the community when it comes to digital presence.”
Over the five days, Jackson moved the staff through a lot of technological advancements, said Dodson, which will help us continue as the community’s news source in all areas.
MTSU is celebrating its 100th anniversary, and Jackson was able to pick up a few pointers from Dodson and Barger on how to publish a print newspaper.
“Seeing how you guys manage ads, how you even lay out the page getting a kind of look over your shoulder to see how you guys are piecing together the paper on Monday was really nice,” said Jackson. “Seeing what it takes to just get the papers from your screen to here in the office and get them out on the stand, it was really interesting too.”
She even joined Barger on Wednesday putting the newspapers on the stands in area stores. And while doing that, she tagged each delivery site on social media, letting people know the latest edition was available, said Dodson.
“It was a great experience for us, and we appreciate the Walt Potter Digital Ambassador Program and Tennessee Press Foundation for giving us this opportunity to learn, improve our commitment to our community to provide news, and prepare for the future,” said Dodson.
Experience the newspaper’s new digital footprint at thebledsonian-banner.com, follow us on Facebook at The Bledsonian-Banner and on Instagram at thebledsonianbanner.
