Amid the recent controversy over the “He Said/She Said” section of The Mirror, the staff of the paper has been laboring to redesign both the print and online image of the newspaper. A process that began over the summer was completed this week, with the launch of a new www.fairfieldmirror.com and a new look to the print edition as well.
As some of you may have noticed over the past few weeks, we have been hinting at our redesign through subtle viral marketing in print, putting a small logo in various sections of the paper. Meanwhile, we created a brand new Stag logo to create a closer tie to the University. In an ode to a tagline of the past, we have added “The Reflection of Fairfield,” to our flag.
We have also taken this opportunity to also address our editorial process and what we feel should be the image of our newspaper. In our editorial this week we directly address the “He Said/She Said” situation and go into further depth in a press release that can be read on our Web site. The entire staff has not taken the reaction that our issue last week caused lightly. We deeply regret offending anyone with the column; it was never our intent. While “He Said/She Said” will continue, we believe that by keeping it in print, it provides us an opportunity to improve the content and use it as a true satire and a true way to bring good, solid, comedy and entertainment to the campus, while still considering the views of others. We would also like everyone to remember that we are are all students and mistakes happen. What we hope now is that we can all learn from this moment.
But back to our new look.
In print, we have changed fonts, changed designs and attempted to make the paper more smooth as a whole. While The Mirror has evolved over the past few years, it has not undergone a full redesign since 2001. This new look will make us look more like our contemporaries, both college newspapers and professional newspapers.
Online, we have switched from the College Publisher servers to the CoPress servers with a new Web site on WordPress, designed by seniors Joe Cefoli and Michelle Morrison. It was a process that took nearly six months and one that will provide faster load times, more online only content, easier access to our archives, fewer ads and more multimedia.
We hope that you take the time to look at how we have changed and let us know what else we can do to make both the Web site and print better for you, our readers. We thank you for continuing to read us through this difficult time, one that was hard both on us and the community and we will strive to continue to improve our content and use our First Amendment Rights of Freedom of Speech and the Press in a positive way.
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