Tag: Riverfront Times

Written by Kevin Dunne. Media by Jessica Sturgeon. On Friday, the 19th, which was a particularly windy day, a group of Greenville College students took a shuttler down to St. Louis. The group was composed of various members of the Papyrus staff, Vista staff, digital media majors, as well as professors Deloy Cole and Jessa Wilcoxen. Our two major stops were at the Beacon and Riverfront Times, two different newspapers. As a journalist and co-editor of the Papyrus, I found the experience to be especially enlightening and informative. The Beacon was an impressive and very professional looking building, and the folks there were very receptive. Born from the ashes of another newsroom, the Beacon was formed 5 years ago and consists of 20 staff members, 15 of which are journalists. The Editor, Margaret Wolf Freivogel, informed us that the Beacon was aimed at creating, “a better St. Louis powered by journalism” and sought to give residents a better, “understanding of the problems, opportunities, etc.” in the area. This means that the Beacon focuses on the arts, sciences, and political matters, both globally and locally, which I thought was interesting. The problem, which persists for any news organization, is that of originality. By relating issues, be they local or nation-wide, to the city, the Beacon has created a fresh and crisp perspective on matters. They also seek to go beyond the means of online journalism. Through e-books, reprints of online articles, various social media sites, the Missouri History Museum, and the radio, the Beacon has created a wide target audience. Further, Margaret Wolf Freivogel said that the audience they seek is, “psychographic over demographic,” meaning that the articles, at their core, are geared towards those who are concerned with the future of the St. Louis region.