‘The Internet is our new newspaper,” says Head Editor Ditta op den Dries, who was hired to the position when Bert Groenman stepped down on 1 June. She explains the three core reasons for the decision to change: ‘Renewal, provide more in-depth articles and lower budget expenses. The UT Nieuws editorial staff wants to join in the new developments of the cross-media news landscape. We are required to stay tuned in with the inspiring and innovative nature of the university environment by following these new developments through the frequent use of social media on the Internet to share news, creating an ongoing dialogue with our readership.’
Besides these changes, UT-Nieuws will also concentrate on writing more in-depth feature articles. ‘The disadvantage of a weekly newspaper is that news cannot be delivered on a timely basis. In addition, we are a small team of journalists who cannot realize their career ambition in every article given the current format. Stories need to be delivered from off the shelf. In our new monthly magazine, we will be able to devote more time to articles. Our ambition is to produce quality articles.’
The magazine will be filled with background stories, opinion pieces and in-depth interviews. The first edition of the UT-Nieuws magazine is published on the first week of November and is entirely dedicated to the 50th anniversary of the University of Twente. In the months afterwards, the magazine will be released on the first Thursday of every month. The December/January and July/August combine two issues into one publication due to vacation breaks.
Through these changes, we can also economize our activities, contributing to the new regulations of cost reduction imposed by the national government. But the editorial staff is by no means stuck in a minor key. ‘The last restyling of the UT-Nieuws was a long time ago. It was high time to critically examine the newspaper in broad daylight. We are making a big step, but a really positive step forward. There are opportunities and challenges that will make the blood of the UT editorial staff flow faster,’ says Op den Dries. The future holds the promise of new themes for each monthly magazine and debate evenings, preferably in cooperation with De Twentsche Courant Tubantia and RTV Oost.
The head editor realizes a part of the UT community will regret the disappearance of the weekly newspaper. ‘It’s understandable. On every Thursday, you could set your clocks to the moment the UT-Nieuws hit the newsstands. But everything has an expiration date as does our beloved product. There is a strong bond and relationship established with our readership. As far as we are concerned, this relationship remains intact. We will continue to do our job as before and as it has been for the past 40 years: independent, critical, interested and according to journalistic principles. And we’re committed to getting more daily news to our loyal readers, rather than less.’
