What happened when a college newspaper abandoned its website for Medium and Twitter » Nieman Journalism Lab

I always love a good story about how new technologies allow for disrupting the traditional ways of doing things. Such is the case with the student newspaper at Mt. San Antonio College in California. They’ve dumped their print edition and website in favor of using Medium (see SAC.Media on Medium) and Twitter (see their hastags #SOSMtSac, #SOSLA, #SOSElMonte, #SOSPomona).

Their strategy also takes advantage of another tactic I admire: They’re simply using pre-existing web services as their platform rather than building their own. Services like Medium and Twitter are focused on making it super-easy for writers to focus on their content rather than learning another web tool.

According to Albertson and student staff, the Medium high has yet to wear off. The advantages they cite are numerous — from a super-stable content management system to an easy-on-the-eyes website chock full of extras. “It’s very simple,” said Serna. “It’s much simpler than WordPress and all the other sites college media are using. It’s even simpler than Tumblr. It might look, with the white [background color], a little bland. But there’s so many ways to customize your own page.”

See this article from NiemanLab.org for a full rundown of their strategy: What happened when a college newspaper abandoned its website for Medium and Twitter » Nieman Journalism Lab