Like our classmates, the staff of The Daily Illini returned to campus ready to adjust to a new schedule and determined to make the spring semester a good one.Unlike our classmates though, our course schedule isn’t all that’s changing. Beginning this semester, The Daily Illini will publish two print issues per week, rather than the four papers per week we printed for the past two years.

The decision to reduce our print publication was made in an effort to stay ahead of changing times. As a result, more of our content will be exclusively online but we will still publish the consistent, daily coverage our readers expect. We hope that with this change we can focus more of our efforts into producing the best product possible.

Our new online focus will allow us to publish information faster and be more available to our readers. This semester promises to be one full of critical news stories and we at The Daily Illini intend to be on the forefront of coverage regarding such topics as the search for new University leadership and the state budget crisis.

Though we’re looking forward to a new semester full of new challenges, opportunities and excitement, we know it’s going to take time to adjust to our new schedule. Our readers will come to understand seeing Monday’s paper on the stands Tuesday and Wednesday and our staff will get used to working on a different schedule a few days a week, focusing more on the web.

Ultimately, we are making these changes to better target our audience. Fewer students go to print newspapers for their news each year, as online news sources and social media continue to increase in popularity. Up-to-the-minute coverage is more important than ever, and we are prepared to go above and beyond our readers’ expectations.Advancements in technology and how newsrooms are taking advantage of these advancements changes the way stories are told. Journalists are not limited to singular platforms to tell one story. Data journalism can break down numbers that tell a story in digestible ways, online video can stand alone or supplement written stories by showing the reader the heart of the story in motion and social media helps journalists, the audiences and sources communicate.

By focusing on these developing platforms, we will be able to take advantage of these new, arguably more effective, ways of storytelling. Our audience will have more options for how they want to consume information and we can bend our coverage to what we find most effective. The volume and quality will stay the same; only the delivery is different.