The Oregon Daily Emerald is no more.
Take that claim at face value, and it’s technically true. Starting next year, the University of Oregon’s 92-year-old independent student newspaper will cease to publish Monday through Friday. But the outlet itself isn’t dead, not by any stretch of the imagination. In fact, if anything, it turns into the “24/7 digital news ticker,” as one of my journalism professors put it yesterday.
The newly established Emerald Media Group is entering the realm of digital news in order to maintain the Daily Emerald’s relevance as a journalistic institution. At least that’s what I garnered from the announcement.
As I’m sure the higher-ups in Suite 300 of the Erb Memorial Union anticipated, there were plenty of cries of “WTF?,” “Srsly?,” and other such incredulity from every corner of the web when that video went live. I wasn’t so surprised. Because, as Publisher Ryan Frank explains, the move wasn’t made as a reaction to the doom and gloom facing newspapers across the country or troubles at the paper itself. It’s an attempt to stay ahead of the curve when it comes to the distribution of news.

