This is going to be a watershed year for the Daily Bruin. We’re working on quite a bit, and you’re about to notice a few changes.
To start off, this is the first year we will be funding several reporting projects through the Bridget O’Brien Scholarship, a fund established after one of our esteemed alumni died in a tragic accident.
Many Daily Bruin alumni and other friends of Bridget and The Bruin donated money to a scholarship fund meant to send reporters and photographers around the world.
The intention of the fund is twofold: to give current Bruin staffers the opportunity to see the world and experience reporting from abroad and to localize international events and issues for the UCLA community.
This year you will be reading reports from Thailand, China and beyond in these pages ““ and if you apply to the Bruin, you could have the opportunity to do international reporting, too, in the future.
This is also the second year we will have the position of enterprise editor at the Bruin ““ a person dedicated full-time to the pursuit of long-term and investigative journalism.
Last year, we broke a story about the UCLA orthodontics program accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of donations in exchange for admitting subpar students.
This year, we already have several investigations underway, and I’m confident we will continue to support and develop fantastic journalism at the Bruin ““ through the Enterprise desk and in all of our departments.
Another announcement I want to make is that at the beginning of the summer, we pursued a contract with a different printer. Because of reductions in both the cost of printing the newspaper and the cost of color pages, we will be running the front pages of each of our four sections in color every day.
We will also be running our Page 3 special sections ““ Closer Look and Science and Health ““ in color every Wednesday.
We are also redesigning the bar on the left side of our front page to incorporate a summary of the day’s news and to promote our video and other multimedia content.
On the bottom half of the new bar, we will be incorporating new ways you can advertise in the Bruin at a more affordable price. You will be able to place a classified ad on the front page, and you will be able to advertise an event you have coming up in the Today @ UCLA section.
But in addition to changes in our regular product, you will be noticing both a new magazine, called “Prime,” and a new and improved online presence.
Prime will be a magazine, in print and online, that will focus on fashion, lifestyle and nightlife at UCLA and in the broader L.A. area.
We hope to use it to bring you the latest fashion, trends and entertainment from in and around campus.
As I wind this column down, I decided to save the best for last.
You may have read last year that we won a $275,000 grant from the Knight News Challenge to develop exciting new Web technology to better deliver the news to you.
We’re moving along quite well on our project, which we’re calling “Populous.” I’m confident that later this year the Daily Bruin will launch a fantastic new Web site incorporating an intuitive new design, social networking, bookmarking features, and ways that you, our readers, can contribute to the reporting and gathering of the news on campus.
I’m very excited about all of the announcements I have had the privilege to make in this column and look forward to your readership and support throughout this school year.
I think this is going to be one of the best years yet at the Bruin, but in order to continue doing what we do, we need you.
If you’re interested in journalism, like to write, or you’re curious about what’s going on in and around your community, The Bruin could be a perfect place for you to work and contribute to the UCLA community.
If you’re interested in learning more, visit www.studentmedia.ucla.edu for an application, or recruiting.dailybruin.com for more information about the positions we have.
Anthony is the 2008-2009 editor-in-chief. E-mail him at editor@media.ucla.edu.