By Andrew Graham
Wednesday morning, University of Montana students woke up to their first Montana Kaimin of the school year, in its new weekly and full color format. The change from a daily to weekly printed paper came at the end of last year, as the Kaimin adapted to industry wide changes in print journalism.
The new format will feature 24 pages and be in news racks every Wednesday. The first issue paid homage to the Grizzlie’s come-from-behind thriller against North Dakota State, with a large cover photo of running back Joey Counts breaking into the end zone.
“It’s awesome, it’s beautiful,” said Editor-in-Chief Cavan Williams, “the colors really pop and we’ve got a great picture on the cover.” Inside a pair of feature stores from Sports Reporter Andrew Houghton support the cover, with one recapping the game and another describing University of Montana’s acquisition of new head football coach Bob Stitt.
Williams said he’s pleased to be at the helm of a paper going into a weekly format, where writers and editors for the print edition will always be thinking two weeks ahead. Breaking news will be covered from the Kaimin’s revamped website and social media platform.
Kevin Van Valkenburg, Senior Writer at ESPN the Magazine, is helping to guide the Kaimin’s transition as the visiting T. Anthony Pollner Professor for the fall semester. “I think it was great to see the Kaimin start strong with the new year, after all the change it underwent,” he said.
In the paper the change was greeted with excitement, as well as a certain amount of hat tipping to the new world of journalism today. “Change is often scary, exciting and chaotic, but to not embrace it is foolish,” Williams wrote to Kaimin readers in a Letter from the Editor. It’s a message journalism students especially can embrace.
Montana Journalism 