Chelsey Dulaney: Focus on integrated storytelling

Chelsey Dulaney is running for Editor-in-chief of The Daily Tar Heel for the 2013-14 school year.

Read Chelsey’s profile.

The DTH has long been a leader in college journalism — and in many ways we are just that. But in recent years, we have lagged behind our peers in online engagement, providing content that appeals to our readers and producing the most well-prepared journalists. To address these challenges, I will implement the following changes.

Train writers to be storytellers

To remain at the forefront of college journalism, the DTH must change the way it thinks about stories. Writers will be taught to think beyond the print potential of a story by considering the visual and online components that could accompany a piece. This broadened perspective toward storytelling will be institutionalized through better training opportunities. I will require all staffers — regardless of their experience at the paper — to attend at least two enrichment sessions a semester. This will help our staffers grow beyond their desks, resulting in more well-rounded and diverse journalists.

Create a visual/online position

The DTH’s Visual Managing Editor plays an integral role in the planning of daily and long-term visual packages. But the structure of this position ignores one key platform — online presence. I will reshape this position into a Visual and Digital Strategy Editor.

This person will bridge the gap between writing and visual desks — including the online, multimedia, design and photo desks. The Visual and Digital Strategy Editor will not only coordinate graphics, photos and illustrations for the paper, but he or she will also coordinate videos, interactive features and the website’s general appearance. This will allow for better integrated content that engages readers through a variety of platforms.

Create a data team

Today’s best journalism is data-driven. However, stories that analyze big data for interesting and important trends are difficult to execute — most writers and editors do not have the time or training to sift through this information in search of stories.

I will create a data team, made up of at least one writer and one graphic designer, to search through newly released research reports, census data, economic information and crime data to find stories that are relevant to our readers. This team will brainstorm how to display these trends in text, design and online. This will both enhance the diversity of our content — as the data helps us identify stories that we might not have been able to before — and help fulfill our role as a public servant.

Launch a digital iPad magazine

A biweekly iPad magazine will give the DTH a platform to produce and share more diverse, engaging and exciting content. An iPad magazine will allow us to easily showcase multimedia content and create pieces using alternative story forms. These biweekly issues will be themed — such as a basketball or food issue — and include interactive content like quizzes or photo galleries.

Seek community feedback

At its core, the DTH is a community newspaper, and it needs to be more responsive to that community. To ensure we are fulfilling our obligation to our readers, I will host a community forum each semester where I will meet with readers and hear feedback on our coverage, transparency, accuracy and engagement. I will take this feedback and determine clear, actionable steps to address the problems identified.