After what has seemed like a long process, Southeast Community College’s online news source, www.sccchallenge.com, is now available.
The research and development for the website has taken about 15 months, and construction was started just two and a half months ago.
“It took longer than I would have liked, but I had a lot of help and support from my department chair and dean,” said Journalism Instructor Joshua Whitney. “It couldn’t have been done without them.”
Whitney said that it took a long time to evaluate all of the different vendors and options available, but that doing so helped to clarify the site’s mission.
Once School Newspaers Online with their WordPress software platform was selected, then came the task of putting everthing together and translating the goals and ambitions to the site.
“Roni Putnam has done a very good job putting the website together and getting it on the right track,” added Whitney.
The online Challenge will serve as a central news source for all of college campuses, Beatrice, Lincoln, Energy Square and Milford.
The site also functions as an opportunity for students who are interested in developing their writing and multimedia skills.
The online edition of The Challenge will provide information on student and program activities, more so than the print edition has.
“In the past, a lot of great stories that students wrote didn’t get published because there just wasn’t room in the print edition,” Whitney observed, “but the Web site solves that problem.”
He added that the other significant advantage was that the content would be more current.
“Espescially on topics like sports,” Whitney said, “I’ve often felt that the stories were a day late and a dollar short just because so much would happen between the student’s deadline and when the story would be published, but with the online publication, that’s no longer the case, and to that end, Stephanie (Brownell) and Roni have done a great job getting pictures posted and putting together well-written stories the day after the game.”
He added that the site will also be an opportunity for each program to have its own news page, which can be found under the “Programs” tab on the home page.
Also offered on the site are stories about music, movies, student activities, clubs and organizations, health, food, and social life.
“We’re trying to be as inclusive as possible,” said Whitney.
Students interested in submitting ideas will find a place to comment on articles and contact information on the website.
“The goal of the site is to keep staff and faculty connected,” said Whitney, “and to develop a sense of community between the four campuses.”
Many of the writers for the newspaper are students who are currently enrolled in a Journalism classes.
Classes offered for the upcoming winter quarter include Introduction to Mass Media, Media Writing and Advanced Media Writing. All are offered as Web courses.
Other writers include staff reporters Brownell, Putnam, Derek Romine, Joseph Busby and Shareyah Bridges.
Brownell, Putnam and Romine are Beatrice bureau correspondents for the Challenge.
Lincoln bureau correspondents are Busby and Bridges.
Whitney said that to fully cover news events on all campuses, a news bureau is needed on each SCC campus. The positions are paid work-study positions and the Milford campus is still in need of a bureau.
“I’m happy with all that has been done so far,” said Whitney, “I’m hoping that the site will become the go-to-place for both faculty, staff and students.”
The SCC Challenge can be found online at www.sccchallenge.com.