First issue attracted 3,000 visitors
Miranda Heyman, COM 250 Reporter
MOUNT BERRY, Ga. – For the first two issues of Berry’s Valkyrie, a lifestyle and culture magazine that replaced the Cabin Log Yearbook a year ago, 100 percent of the content published online. Valkyrie published as a PDF in a flipbook format.
For the third issue, which published this semester, Valkyrie added a print version.
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Sara Arms, editor-in-chief of Valkyrie
Photo by Jessica Cannon
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“Last semester, 3,000 people read Valkyrie’s first issue, said Sara Arms, the editor-in-chief. “It wouldn’t get close to 200 if we weren’t digital [because] not many people sit down and read through or thumb through a magazine.”
Replacing the storied Cabin Log was controversial, but since the switch, alumni have let the Valkyrie staff know how they like reconnecting to Berry by accessing the magazine online, said Kevin Kleine, student publications adviser and a senior lecturer in Communication.
“Some alumni think it still resembles the Cabin Log,” according to Kleine.
Going digital is necessary for student publications to keep up with the times, Arms said, both for readers and for the editorial staffs. With Valkyrie, students are learning industry-standard long-form journalism, she said.
Valkyrie can include interactive features and utilize hypertext, two things Cabin Log did not allow, she said. Digital also allows Valkyrie to produce a higher quality publication. Staff can revise pieces and fix typos, for example, Arms said.
Related links on Student Media going digital: