Digital presence to complement print version of literary publication
Miranda Heyman, COM 250 Reporter
MOUNT BERRY, Ga. — Berry College’s literary magazine, Ramifications, will join the digiterati in January, launching a mobile-friendly website to serve as a companion to its print edition published once per semester.
Ramifications is the latest student publication to go digital. Valkyrie published online starting in August 2016. The Campus Carrier and Viking Fusion have published digitally for about a decade.
Student publications need to “go find their audience these days; they won’t find you,” said Kevin Kleine, the long-time student publications adviser and a senior lecturer in Communication.
In its 51st year of publication, Ramifications is moving online to expand what it can publish, and to do so at low cost. Once online, the only limitation will be what the student editorial staff determine is acceptable.
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Darian Kuxhouse, editor-in-chief of Ramifications
Photo by Cait Buckalew
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“Ramifications isn’t a well-known name at Berry College,” said Darian Kuxhouse, a senior and the editor-in-chief. It will be easier for students to find a website on their phones than to look for a printed magazine around campus, she said. “Ramifications should’ve had an online platform years ago,” according to Kuxhouse.
The magazine receives on average 100 to 150 submissions per semester cycle, according to Kuxhouse. She said she hopes the website will double those numbers. To achieve this goal, the site will include a submissions page to make it easier to send in artifacts, including music and videography.
The website will be geared to mobile devices, so the design of the site will be minimalistic or streamlined to minimize distraction, Kuxhouse said. The focus will be on the art and the content, according to Jameson Filstone, a sophomore and the online editor of Ramifications.
The most arduous step of the move to digital has been getting permissions from Berry, Kuxhouse said.
Getting the word out
To promote the digital version, Kuxhouse said the print version will link to site. Also in the works are promotional emails and posters.
To those who wonder whether digital will threaten the future viability of print, Kleine and Kuxhouse say absolutely not. The Ramfications staff will be careful not to make the print version obsolete, she said.
Related links on Student Media going digital: