Market Research Project 2

Running Head: THE CARROLL NEWS ONLINE 1
The Carroll News Online:
Assisting The Carroll News Increase Their Presence Online
Carlos Cruz, Phil Ghansah
John Carroll University

THE CARROLL NEWS ONLINE 2
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Executive Summary.....4
Introduction......5
Background Research..6
Objectives..10
Research Questions....10
Study One...11
Method...11
Results....13
Discussion..16
Limitations and Future Research...19
Study Two......20
Background....20
Method...22
Results....24
Discussion..26
Limitations and Future Research...29
Conclusion.30
References..32
Appendix33
A.33
B.34
C.35
D.38
E.39
F.58
G.60
H.70
I..73
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This study gives the researchers complete access to the structure of The Carroll News and
their current impact on John Carrolls campus. The organization of two focus groups made up of
5 or more people provided the researchers with information and data needed to make appropriate
conclusions surrounding the viewpoints of publishing mediums. In deciding the best course of
action, a survey was considered, but eventually, a second focus group with just the writers was
found to be the best course of action in retrieving the data needed. The research conducted with
the focus groups answer our major research questions, How does The Carroll News currently
influence their readers and campus community? and, How can The Carroll News benefit from
increasing their influence online?
The research found that editors favored print copies and would prefer to continue
producing with the traditional medium while those that only write for The Carroll News favored
the idea of increasing their influence online using online platforms and social media sites even
though they share an equal appreciation for the paper medium. The editors are older in age and in
academic levels than those who are in a non-editors role. It was the belief of the researchers that
the second focus group would provide a likely view of future leadership for The Carroll News
while pushing ideas of increasing online influence in the near future.
The editors hold a strong influence over where their writers work will be shared due to
the approval processes that come with printing news content. While the editors gave writers
opportunities to submit ideas for weekly edition of The Carroll News, a sentiment exists among
the writers to introduce new initiatives involving expanding not only the organizations
readership, but the staffs responsibilities around online publishing as whole.

INTRODUCTION
The Carroll News is an on-campus student-run newspaper that traditionally published
their work using the newspaper as a vehicle in an effort to spread the word about events at John
Carroll University, in the city of University Heights, and even around the world. The Carroll
News has been in existence since The Carroll News has been student-run since 1925, it is known
as John Carroll Universitys official student-led newspaper with paper releases every Thursday.
The Carroll News is known for these specific publications: Op/Ed pieces, editorials, world news,
finance and business, sports, campus, and entertainment. When The Carroll News started in
1925, articles were written for both St. Ignatius high school and John Carroll University. Carroll
News issues stopped producing articles for St. Ignatius High School so that there would be more
of a focus on John Carroll articles. The Carroll News during the year of 1927. The Carroll News
stopped making papers for St. Ignatius after the creation of their own newspapers. After the
graduating class of 1999, The Carroll News changed how they numbered their volumes. The
volumes changed from volume 91 in the spring semester of 1999 to volume 75 in the fall
semester of 1999. The Carroll News is a power source on John Carroll Universitys campus, it is
the literal representation of student's voice on campus. Our aim is to find how does The Carroll
News currently influence their readers and campus community and how can The Carroll News
benefit from increasing their influence on campus. The Carroll News received best journalism
awards in 2005 and 2006, It was ranked among the nations top weekly newspaper with high
excellence by the Society of Collegiate Journalists. This society is known as the oldest national
honors society for collegiate journalism. In 2006, The Carroll News won 14 regional and
national awards, that is the most awards the paper earned in its 90-year-old history as a
student-led Newspaper. In 2007, The Carroll News was selected as the second highest newspaper
overall in its region. Three John Carroll University staffers won outstanding awards for their
performances on the paper. Even with the high appreciation of the student-lead paper, there
seems to be a decline in interest for print copies produced by The Carroll News. According to a
Carroll News staffer, they made a statement claiming that The Carroll News prints many papers
and were lucky if a quarter of the papers are picked up by students.
BACKGROUND RESEARCH
The issue that The Carroll News is currently facing is a common issue for print papers.
Print papers around the United States are suffering declines in print sales, The Boston Globe was
sold for 1.1 billion dollars in the year of 1993. The New York times sold The Globe for a mere
70 million dollars, the paper had declined in valued because of the drop in print purchases
(Jones, 2013). The Globe, a staple in American writing and newspaper publishing was sold for a
meager 70 million dollars. It goes to show how big of a crisis this seems to be for print
Newspapers. The New York Times did not make a profit from The Globe, the pensions owed by
the Times outweighed the selling price. The New York Times pension was worth $110 million
and Times sold the Globe for $70 million dollars (Jones, 2013). The problem is more dynamic
than originally thought. Newsweek, the nations second largest magazine was sold for the fourth
time in four years and just two months after they began to release printed copies in October of
2012. The magazine was sold by the Washington Post in 2011 to Sid Herman for $1, if Herman
would accept all the responsibilities. Print copies of the magazine continued to decline in sales,
Herman once remarked I regret purchasing Newsweek, the yields are utterly useless, (Sziak,
2010).
This is another example of print copies seem to be in a decline when it comes to sales.
Both print newspapers and print magazines seems to be failing. Print newspaper is the traditional
medium of delivering news to readers, they were considered to be one-size monopolies.
Newspapers were seen to be instant success. A reader could read blurbs of the news all one a few
pieces of papers. According to Xzang, newspaper circulation is down 45%, journalists are at
decline as well with a loss of 30% of journalists. The professor continues to talk about the
digital revolution, readers are able to access information with a swipe of their fingers, making
news more accessible than ever. Many of these print newspaper companies are going out of
business, and only few are sparking conversation on what could be done to change the course for
how print news is viewed by readers. The downfall of print is inevitable seeing how many
companies completely reliant on print newspapers have gone out of business. Xzang continues to
say print will not die completely as of now, some of us grew up on print newspapers and do not
wish for them to leave completely. Print will be around to an extent, but not at capacity it seemed
to thrive in twenty-years ago. (Xzang, 2010)
News will not die, there will always be news and news resources, with that being said
news formats need to match the time. In the 21st century print does not match the time, the world
as evolved. Man is has the power to receive and manipulate information in seconds. With this
being said information needs to be constant, current and readily accessible and the internet
provides these components. Internet conceived sites seem to be more be fresher and more
dynamic, the world-wide web is a speedy medium of infrastructure full of information waiting to
be viewed by readers. With the speed of internet and technology, this will be the future of news.
Other newspapers have switched to online formats. The New York Times in addition added an
online format to the print. Thus allowing print readers to continue to read The New York Times
in their favorite format. With the New York Times creation of online format, this also allows
readers to appreciate online newspapers to be able to continue enjoying quick accessibility to
news. This allows for readers to go between formats as they wish, and this why the New York
Times is around today.
A student-led newspaper that is similar to The Carroll News has recently made the shift
to online newspapers only due to their decline in print newspaper sales. Xavier University
newspaper, the Xavierite, only produces online newspaper copies for student and faculty to
enjoy. The shift to online newspapers by universities is a result of a rising disinterest for print
newspapers. Seeing that there is a demand for news that is easily ready and accessible, online is
the way to go and it seems to be working for our sister school in Cincinnati.
Our goal is to assist The Carroll News increase their digital presence. Bob Noll, advisor
for The Carroll News, told us of efforts in the past where editors attempted to enforce an online
presence by asking writers to create accounts on Medium, a social media-like website where
users can publish stories of their own, so that The Carroll News content can be shared among
their peers and potentially beyond to professional outlets. Dr. Carrie Buchanan explained to us
that when attempting to influence editors on the importance of publishing work online, the
feedback was fairly positive. However, Dr. Buchanan also explained that when editors
encouraged writers to make Medium accounts, very few actually followed through with the
recommendations.
As of October 6, 2017, only editors of The Carroll News have published articles and
columns to their Medium page. Writers have had their articles published, but under the name of
their respective editor. The Carroll News involvement online is also fairly new, the oldest article
being published on December 7, 2016.
Beginning with a general body meeting on September 28, 2017, Dr. Buchanan addressed
The Carroll News on the importance of getting writers their own Medium accounts so their own
work may be shared throughout their social media accounts and ultimately improve the
readership behind their newspaper. Editors, like they have in the past according to Noll, agreed
to tell their writers about how to use Medium. Dr. Buchanan elaborated on how to view statistics
on certain stories to view where and how a story has been shared and been. The current
editor-in-chief clarified that new editors could not register new Medium accounts as editors or
writers for The Carroll News publication because McGowan still was the administrator for the
page. While they were able to send a text to McGowan asking to make him the new
administrator, a disconnect was still present when trying to establish a structure for editors to
register writers to the online publication.
It is clear from a week-to-week basis that students are not physically picking up their
newspapers causing a readership to remain stagnant. Baldwin-Wallaces student newspaper, The
Exponent, is experiencing similar challenges and have also made efforts to go online with
publishing. The Exponent has also published a website, bwexponent.com, but has not been
updated since April 2017. The same date represents the last updates across The Exponents
social media accounts on Twitter and Facebook, @bwexponent. From conducting secondary and
historical research, we can establish that at small liberal arts institutions exist struggles for
student-led newspaper organizations to expand their readership.

Objectives
In order to successfully assist The Carroll News increase their online influence
on-campus, we must establish objectives to increase brand awareness of what exactly is The
Carroll News. The fact the student body is not picking up the newspaper is not a direct giveaway
why the organization should move online. We must find out if students are aware John Carroll
University offers a student-led newspaper on-campus and why or why not they have chosen to
follow the outlet.
Second, establishing a culture or structure centered around career advancement and
development ultimately ties into the purpose behind student organizations. In order to fulfill this
objective, our research needs to prioritize discovering editors thoughts on how The Carroll
News affects their career trajectory and how they use that motivation to assist writers with the
same goal. We need to help them establish a continuous and maintainable structure where writers
will eventually be able to see an external influence of their social media accounts on Medium, or
explore the possibility of constructing an exclusive webpage.
Last, we need to market and educate The Carroll News influence on Medium to the
student body. By figuring out a way to let our campus know of alternative, instant ways to read
their campus news, we can ensure The Carroll News would see a spike in readership and
subscriptions. The paper would still be printed for physical copies, but would ultimately be able
to save The Carroll News on resources while simultaneously marketing the organization.
Research Questions
Given the circumstances, we set out to prove The Carroll News will achieve greater
student participation if were to move from newspapers to online newspaper. We believe that this
will cause faster accessibility of news for students, and that will be more inclined to view or read
the paper if there online format is improved and updated. We will mark how we will go about
finding how successful The Carroll News will be if they switched or updated their current format
in the methodology. Our methodology will show will collect data to see if this will be a worthy
venture to pursue for John Carroll University by answering our the research questions, how
does The Carroll News currently influence their readers and campus community? and how can
The Carroll News benefit from increasing their influence online?
STUDY ONE
METHOD
In order to conduct the first stage of our study we recruited participants for our focus
group through the main administrator of the organization, ultimately implementing a nomination
based selection process. This was conducted by emailing the editor-in-chief of The Carroll News
requesting an email the editing staff to invite them to participate in the focus group (See
Appendix A). After receiving our invitation, the editor-in-chief informed the editing staff of the
focus group that was to be conducted after their general meeting with an invitation to participate.
(See Appendix B). Our questions were written with the intention of fostering a conversation
surrounding the consumption of The Carroll News content among their readers and linking it
with their sentiments about news as a whole (See Appendix C). The focus group was conducted
directly after The Carroll News general meeting in The Carroll News office in order provide a
convenient and familiar space for all of the participants. The moderator provided three pizzas
and soda for the participants to enjoy before beginning the focus group. After the moderator
informed all of the participants that the study was about to commence, they began recording a
voice memo to archive their answers for further analysis. All participants were engaged with the
topics while sharing their passions around their own organization and its influences, sentiments
for the news industry, and their concerns about The Carroll News moving forward in an effort to
explore publishing mediums other than print. The duration of the focus group totaled 45 minutes
and 31 seconds. All participants expressed their appreciation for the conversation once the focus
group had concluded.
Participants
Our study required us to focus on different positions within The Carroll News
institution. Through a nomination process, all participants were editors of The Carroll News.
There was a range of responsibility among the staff that was represented in each editors title
which also corresponded with their academic grade due to all participants being students at John
Carroll University. Seven editors with unique demographics and roles participated in the focus
group. Participant B, an education major; participant C, an English major; and participant D, a
communication major focusing in integrated marketing communication, all classified as seniors
and served as section editors for the weekly publication of The Carroll News. Participant A is the
managing editor for the organization and identified as a senior majoring in communication with a
focus in journalism. Participant E is the editor-in-chief and identified as a senior majoring in
political science. Participant F classified as a sophomore majoring in communication with a
focus in digital media. Participant G classified as a junior double majoring in communication and
political science. Both participants F and G serve as assistant editors. Through conducting a
focus group with these nominated participants, the moderator attained data that would be needed
to understand the operations behind publishing their news content while connecting their
sentiments behind writing for a news organization and advancing their publications beyond print.
This will allow the client to understand the effects of their news outlet and let us have a better
understanding on how to better improve their online influence.
RESULTS
Empowering Writers
The participants immediately were very open about expressing how they have benefitted
from The Carroll News. While they have expressed success obtaining jobs using print copies of
their articles, all participants informed the moderator their motive was to empower the writers
with a creative platform to express themselves and inform the student body of surrounding
events. Participant D informed the rest of the participants on how he uses Medium to enable their
writers with the opportunity to share their work on social media. Every one of the participants
shared they were all writers at one point and desire to empower the writers below them with the
same opportunities they had before they were editors. Participants F and G expressed that by
consistently writing for The Carroll News, they were able to become the assistant editors they are
today and look forward to empowering the writers they will eventually supervise.
Reliance on Print
The editing staff feels very strongly about the influence print has brought them and how
it has contributed to the culture of the organization. This sentiment was strengthened by
participants A and C sharing examples of earned professional opportunities that were provided
through having print copies available for interviews. Participant E shared that The Carroll News
prints 1,400 copies of the newspaper a week . Participant B added that out of an undergraduate
student population of 3,000, only a small portion of papers were left over at the weeks end. The
majority of participants acknowledge that print copies of The Carroll News are beneficial and
accessible to the student body due to the copies being free to obtain. They noted that with the
abolishment of The New York Times and USA Today print copies being provided on-campus,
doing the same thing to The Carroll News would potentially harm the organization as a whole.
Participant D also noted that current methods using Medium are inefficient. The rest of the
participants agreed with participant D and agreed that it is within their ability to improve their
training around posting articles online.
Credibility
Political climate surrounding journalism as a whole, described by the participants as
fake news, is a strong factor as to why The Carroll News has remained generally conservative
around publishing their work online versus on print. All participants shared negative sentiments
around how journalists from larger media outlets can be ridiculed for getting the slightest facts
wrong, or even if the reader does not agree with the publications message. They expressed a fear
that if The Carroll News had an increased following on the internet, it would potentially affect
their personal feelings around their craft. Participant D expressed that articles can be their baby
and if someone were to criticize it, harsh feelings regarding their own career could spawn. This
fear has caused the participants to theorize how the internet and 24-hour news cycles have
influenced the circulation of fake news. The general consensus among the participants is that
anyone can post anything online, thus hindering the credibility of the medium as a whole. They
also expressed that even with credible news outlets, a reporter could report something too fast
with non-credible information that would eventually leading to that outlet having to deal with
negative public relations with their readership.

The participants agreed that current methods are conveniently accessible to anyone who
wishes to access The Carroll News content. They concurred that by taking a week to release a
publication on print instead of instantly on the web, it drives the entire organization to ensure
they are releasing a quality product with credible information due to multiple layers of
confirmation needing to be assessed for a single article. They pointed out that by providing a free
and credible product for their readers, it hinders the priority to provide the exact same means for
an online publication.
Prioritizing Online Presence
While the general feelings surrounding print are strongly positive, several participants
acknowledged that online means of accessing their content needs to improve. Every participant
stated they mostly engage with news content on social media and other internet web pages.
Participant A addressed the rest of the participants news consumption habits and questioned why
The Carroll News is not already a priority to provide online. Every participant agreed, but
participant B clarified that moving toward publishing on an exclusive webpage has presented
financial challenges that resulted in a stagnant effort to move content on a website. This caused
the organization to explore Medium as a platform to share content with others using social media
accounts. Participant E stated that Medium is the form factor the organization feels most
comfortable with but agreed with the participants that more needs to be done with prioritizing its
usage among the editors and staff. Other participants question current marketing habits with their
online publication. Participant D asked the group if they are asking their writers if they are
sharing their content online so that other people can engage with the content. The common
consensus among the group is that The Carroll News should prioritize moving toward providing
more online content, but not at the expense of risking its credibility and reputation.
DISCUSSION
In order to better understand the next steps of research, we needed to begin answering our
two main research questions, how does The Carroll News currently influence their readers and
campus community? and how can The Carroll News benefit from increasing their influence
online? By asking the participants questions that are relevant to the research questions, we
would be in a position to better comprehend why The Carroll News has not moved in the
direction of digital journalism, given the push by advisors to make the move (See Appendix D).
We decided it was necessary to conduct our first focus group with the editors of the newspaper
because they are responsible for the consistent publication of their content. Asking the
participants for their reason to join The Carroll News served as the best opening for the focus
group. This question provided an array of passionate responses that created a comfortable
environment to set up the study to operate as a free-flowing conversation. Participants agree that
some news outlets offer few opportunities for writers, but The Carroll News allows its writers
freedom to express their ideas to an extent and they believe this allows for growth. Participant A
states, you can come as a poor writer, but you will leave a better writer. That is why The Carroll
News is important.
The moderator asked the participants what they found most fulfilling in their roles as
editors for The Carroll News in order to clarify what responsibilities they feel they need to fulfill
during their tenure. Participant D referred to a time when he received an email from a writer
saying, Hey sorry I wasnt able to make it to the meeting today but I looked at the paper and my
jaw dropped. I didnt realize my article was going to get so much space on one of the pages.
Participant D elaborated about how it was in that moment where they prioritized providing
hyperlinks in the general meeting reminder emails sent to the writers so that they had the ability
to share their stories with people off-campus. For me, it was the satisfaction or the idea that I
was able to bring somebody elses work to life and put it out there for them as the best product it
can be, participant D said referring to publishing their writers work online. The closing
comments to the story set the stage for other participants to share their sentiments around
empowering their writers.
Participant A pivoted toward how growth was deeply important to her when writing for
the paper. They claimed To look at it and see your name in print and think about how many
people are going to see it on campus. It gives you an exciting feeling that makes you want to
come back. This comment created a ripple of effect of comments by other editors who agreed
with what participant A was saying. The comments were synchronous at that moment, they all
would make comments of how fulfilling it is for them to see their name in print. Participants also
shared stories on their professional success by using print copies of The Carroll News during job
interviews that lead to employment. They called me and said they wanted me to write for them
but they still wanted to see more of my work...I brought in about 4-5 copies of the paper
and...they asked if I was actually in this and I told them that Im an editor now and you can also
see that growth. They were like, Okay! Well youre in, Participant C said describing her
success.
Participant E followed with, I do think actually seeing our names in a physical copy of
news rather than seeing it on a screen I think that makes a difference...when it comes out of the
vehicle of The Carroll News and goes through the printing press, I think that makes a
difference... What we found was that the editors held the credibility of print to such a high
standard, they believe that print is more real than online. According to the participants, print
seemed to be a source that feels more permanent and influential than online. The rest of the
participants followed Participant Es example that news published online may be less reliable.
The issue stems from the fact that print is the traditionally convenient path to take when it comes
to producing the newspaper since it has always been done this way since 1925, according to
Participant E. Participant B also addressed the issue of fake news being a concern for the
editors by stating, We can see how frustrating it can be to see The New York Times be
discredited and accused of fake news on a very big platform. Its very disheartening to know we
work so hard, they work 30 times harder, and theyre getting slapped like this and it got to us
really good last year. The participants believed print copies are held to a higher standard of
credibility because it is perceived to be a more permanent solution whereas anyone could post
anything they wanted online while erasing it just as quickly.
By speaking with the editors, we were able to comprehend why moving online was an
issue for them. The editors acknowledged they need to improve the way they prioritize
expanding their accessible resources online, but they also recognize the obstacles that are in their
way. Medium is a website the organization uses to publish their stories to the web, allowing for
them to share their stories on social media for friend and family to read. I dont think our
Medium account is efficient yet. I dont know why. I think its because we havent all sat down
to learn it. But its so easy. We can do it. I know we can do it, says Participant E. Participant A
believed posting articles online consistently will ultimately help The Carroll News gain
popularity on the web. They clarified this saying, I think once we get people posting every
single week so that our website is actually up and updated whenever you look at it...Like we all
just said, we find all of our news on social media. Why isnt our news up there? While the
desire to move toward publishing on an exclusive website is shared with the moderator,
Participant B expressed limitations that have prevented the staff from actually making the move,
It also gets a little rough. The domain name thecarrollnews is owned by a JCU alumni who
wont give it to us unless we pay that person around $6,000.
By speaking with the participants during the focus group, we are able to understand the
editing staff is passionate about empowering their writing staff to have a platform to practice
their writing skills. Being able to see how writers improve their craft over time is ultimately what
inspires the writing staff to continue setting their writers up for success the way they see fit. This
leads into the participants describing their professional success behind providing physical proof
of publication by bringing in copies of The Carroll News into job interviews. These examples
inspired participants to provide similar platforms for their writers. The notion behind remaining
credible is extremely important to the editing staff. Because of this, they remain on paper due to
the belief that printing on paper involves monetary investment and drives the organization to
prioritize verification before publishing their weekly edition of the newspaper. All quotes and
examples are quoted during the focus group (See Appendix E) as a result of the moderator asking
questions from the question protocol.
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
The limitations of the research revolved around The Carroll News editors taking a strong
stance against moving towards digital journalism. The stance hindered the focus group from
finding out if The Carroll News will act on the possibility of committing to an online publication
for their readers. The focus group responses seemed at times to be one-sided in the direction of
complete denial of going online, while keeping print. The next approach would be to facilitate a
focus group with the writers. We still need to know the perception of the writers and question
how writers for The Carroll News view the idea of their publications going on the web. If offered
the opportunity would they write online articles? Would be there motivation seeing that they are
not currently compensated? How would writers feel about a work-study position to write online
stories for The Carroll News and how many of them would apply for that position? After
conducting the focus group with the writers with the intention of gauging how they would
maintain moving toward digital journalism, the next step is would be to conduct a campus survey
to yield information on whether print is as admired by the readership, as the editors claim, and
how they would feel about The Carroll News having an active online platform. It is important we
gather the opinions of those who consume The Carroll News publications altogether as well as
the ones who produce it.
STUDY TWO
BACKGROUND
Participants from the first study shared their sentiments surrounding the importance of
maintaining a print copy of The Carroll News. These feelings are perpetuated through earned
professional success by having tangible copies of their work readily available for interviews. The
notion that news published on the internet is most likely uncredible and financial obstacles are
preventing the editing staff from advancing towards increased online influence because a former
member of The Carroll News currently owns the domain name of their old website. The seller
refused to relinquish it unless paid $6,000 for full rights to use the name thecarrollnews.com.
This study will gauge the writers idea behind how they benefit from an organization with
limited external outreach. Medium has not attained the influence needed to convince editors to
prioritize training writers on how to publish on the platform. We will analyze the writers
knowledge base on online publication platforms for their work and whether they desire
innovative practices for publishing their Carroll News content. The question protocol used in this
study is similar to the one used in the editors focus group because we want to understand the
difference in perspectives between the editors and writers about similar sentiments and
challenges surrounding the usage of a paper medium and digital platforms.
Research Questions
Following the information collected from the first focus group, the first research question
that is prompted measures how The Carroll News currently influences their readers and campus
community while the second addresses how The Carroll News can potentially benefit from
increasing their influence online. The study to be conducted must consider how The Carroll
News is currently influencing JCUs campus and how it plans to attract or retain readership in
the future. The study must answer these research questions and give clarity to the research at
hand in order for comparisons to be made that lead to a constructive suggestion for how editors
and writers can establish a culture prioritizing growth on-campus and potentially on the internet.
The moderators also needed to understand that Carroll News editors can also be considered
writers as well. This study differentiates the answers of those who are in an editor role and those
who are primarily writers.

METHOD
To recruit for the second focus group, our recruitment plan needed to prioritize a
convenient time for writers to assemble since they only have one guaranteed meeting time unlike
the editors who meet every Monday and Tuesday. The Carroll News hold general body meetings
every Thursday in The Carroll News office where writers meet to be assigned article topics by
their respective editors. Since the writers already meet on Thursdays, it was best to reach out to
The Carroll News editor-in-chief to request if we could facilitate the focus group directly after
their general body meeting. These practices were a result from a piggyback recruitment approach
due to the moderators utilizing an already set time and space to foster the study (See Appendix
I).
A question protocol was created so that there would be a similar outline of conversation
between the writers and the moderator as there was with the editors. In order to protect the
identity of the focus group participants, their names were coded into letters so their privacy
would be ensured (see Appendix G). As the focus group commenced, the assistant moderator
began recording the responses of the participants on their mobile device while taking live notes
in their notebook. The assistant also took notes of overlapping themes from participant responses
and motions of members in the focus group. The moderator conducted a conversation in a
manner in which participants gave passionate and detailed responses that contributed to a stable
discussion. The moderator asked questions that allowed for relatable conversation between the
writers which resulted in the study lasting a duration of 40 minutes and 32 seconds.
Participants
The second focus group that was conducted was created with the intent of probing those
who currently hold the position of a writer. The younger demographic of Carroll News members
are typically writers since that is the way the staff hierarchy is structured. One starts out as a
writer and with experience, they will eventually become an editor. Exploring the younger
demographic pushed us to concentrate on those that only write for The Carroll News. Using
piggyback sampling, the moderators recruited participants that were diverse in academic levels.
Participant A is a sophomore and joined The Carroll News because they wanted to
improve their overall writing experience. Participant B had a strong yearning to spread and share
their work with the world and believed that The Carroll News would give them the training to do
so. Participant C is a senior who joined The Carroll News to gain more experience in writing as
well be involved with a student organization. Participant D, joined because they had a strong
passion for writing and ultimately wants to pursue a career in journalism after college.
Participant E is a freshman who joined The Carroll News to improve their writing capabilities,
become a better journalist, and gain a career in journalism.
In conducting the focus group using the piggyback method, the moderator received
information and data that provided clarity. This was necessary to understanding the processes
and understandings behind the method of publishing their content and their current reasoning for
why it is exclusively done in print. The data and information received will allow for the stable
understanding of how The Carroll News can better their influence on campus.
RESULTS
Necessary training
The participants were appeared to be comfortable sharing the reasoning on how why they
decided to become members of The Carroll News. Though the reasoning appeared diverse,
writers agreed The Carroll News would make them better writers as many of them plan to pursue
careers in journalism upon graduating. They also expressed how much they enjoy using The
Carroll News as a vehicle to publish print articles so they can be physically held and seen by
their peers on hard copy. Participant D had said For me, every week when you see the paper
come out. You know you put so much effort into it. You know you had to go out and interview
someone or go out to an event. You know they had to sit down and write this whole thing and
made sure it sounded exactly how you wanted. Then when you pick it up, youre proud, and you
tell yourself, I did this. (see Appendix G). The statement made by Participant D re-enforces the
sentiments of the writers about why they believe that it serves as preparation for professional
journalism after college.
Trustworthiness
The participants liked the fact The Carroll News had a rigorous editing system they
believed makes Carroll News print more credible. The inference of print being credible is made
when Participant B says, I also think a lot of the times news on social media and phones is often
not very accurate. So, when you hear about a newspaper, not only do you know it is electric and
its classic. You know a lot of work went into it. The people here at The Carroll News spend
hours on end to make sure we get a paper every week. They do a lot of research and verify
information to make sure people are getting good information every Thursday morning
compared to social media, there is so much false news that goes out there (see Appendix G).
Participant B is claiming the credibility of The Carroll News can only vindicated by constantly
checking on pre-published information to ensure its complete accuracy. Participant E agreed
with Participant B by saying, I think there is a lot of bias that plays into social media and news
because it is hard to get both perspectives, (see Appendix G). The participants seemed to agree
that The Carroll News current approach works in ensuring credibility and trustworthiness as
they usually take a week to produce and edit their content guaranteeing that it will be
trustworthy. The participant agreed that the speed in which you can post news on social-media
reduces the chance of the information being credible while claiming that is why the current
system works with The Carroll News.
Social Media Possibility
The participants in this focus group enjoyed the production of print and believe it is
effective, but they also shared a necessity to increase their online influence because they also
consume their news content from online platforms. The participants seemed to be fond of the
idea of publishing news content through social media and online platforms. Participants agreed
they needed to start advertising their news content on social media and online platforms like
Instagram and Twitter. Participant E stated, I think whoever wants to read it has access to it, but
I also think that we should work on improving the website, so our articles can go up on there.
Also using our social media pages to provide teasers for our articles to guide people where to
read them. Posting pictures of what is going on with the organization (see Appendix G).
Participant A agreed by saying, Its hard to get people away from their fingertips on their
phones. If its right there, they are more likely to go into the articles themselves and read them
(see Appendix G). Participant D claimed, I personally dont want to oversee that aspect. I dont
use social media all that much, but I believe that it will help us get our name out there and spread
our news and thats our goal, (see Appendix G).
The participant entertained the idea of a social media chair and possibly increasing staff
members. Participant E had talked about creating a marketing chair position in which they would
be interested in holding to make sure that the move to online platforms and social media works
for The Carroll News. The intent by of the younger first-year students to further online influence
for John Carroll readers was present when Participant B said, I would like to do something like
that. I think stuff like that is so exciting and looking at other clubs I would love to do something
like that for them. I think social media gets stuff out there really fast. I think Instagram would
help get content out there really fast. Sorority and fraternity life is a good example, everyone
follows each other, and you get to see what they are up to. I just noticed it has been really
effective for other clubs (see Appendix G). Participant B makes this point to show the
importance of social media as a resource for constant communication and staying current with
what the organization is doing. Participant E added, I would be very committed. I am all for
bringing in new ideas. Seeing what works and what doesnt, I really like to tackle big projects. I
think it would be something I definitely would be invested in (see Appendix G). The overall
enthusiasm about social media presence is embraced by the majority of the participants.
DISCUSSION
It was important that our research covered the two main research questions just as it was
prioritized with the editors. The participants were asked questions that are related to the research
question so that we would be able to understand the functions of The Carroll News plan to be in
the future. In finding the reasoning behind the delay on normalizing online publishing, it was
important to conduct a focus group with the writers as we conducted a focus group with editors
the last time. It was necessary to conduct a focus group with those that just write because they
are the youngest demographic in The Carroll News and are the future of the organization. Within
The Carroll News structure, you start as a writer and with experience, you can eventually
become an editor. We felt the best approach to opening the focus group was by asking them why
they decided to become a member of The Carroll News. We felt this question would create the
necessary comfortability to effectively conduct the focus group. There was an array of responses,
but the common theme by the participants was that The Carroll News makes you a better writer.
Participant E had stated my experience is always a challenge. Writing for Campus involved
putting yourself out there a lot. Talking to people who you just approach and its weird for me. It
could be somebody totally random. It has been a learning experience and Ive been really
enjoying it (see Appendix G). Participant D also talked about improvement by stating, I think
its the process of becoming content with failure sometimes. I know for me, sometimes the
editors would fix my articles even though we are in the same room. I see my paper come back to
me with all these red marks. I was surprised, I was like oh my gosh what is this? But in the
end, they want to help you be a better writer (see Appendix G). The participant agreed that
Carroll News helps them grow and become more effective writers in the process.
The moderator asked the participants about the most fulfilling aspects from writing for
The Carroll News. The question was designed to find the responsibilities of those that hold them
and how their responsibilities in The Carroll News relates to their success on campus. Participant
B, stated I love being able to write about something that piques my interest, especially for my
fellow students and peers. Theyre going to want to hear about something just as much as I
wanted to. Thats really exciting (see Appendix G). Participant A also stated to me, its like a
little project. Its fun to work on it then when youre finished you feel really good and youre
satisfied (see Appendix G). Both Participants A and Bs statements showed a trend on how
writing for The Carroll News benefits them because it is something easily recognized by students
and peers. The conversation with the participants started changing when the moderator asked,
How do you all consume news aside from just The Carroll News? (see Appendix G)
Participant E stated Oh okay, I watch a lot of my news on my phone. I follow journalism
Twitter accounts and stuff like that. I like my news to be immediate and right there without
having to leaf through the paper to find what I want to read. But writing for The Carroll News
has definitely given me a different perspective on reading news. Its a lot more involved and it
feels good to read a paper, but I like both ways of receiving information (see Appendix G).
Many of the participants talked about they consume news through social media outlets and
online platforms. Participant E started the conversation by talking about how they consume news
mainly through journalism twitter accounts.
In retrieving data from this focus group, there were trends of wanting more online
influence as well as social media presence from the participants. They seemed to be elated with
the idea of increasing their on-campus influence using online platforms and social media sites.
One important note to be documented is the fact the participants found online platforms to be the
future of news consumption. Participant D stated, I think Twitter is super important. I remember
I had a speaker come into our class just to speak to us about how Twitter is such a great platform
for breaking news. I think its really important to build our skill set with Twitter (see Appendix
G). Social media presence and online platform usage seems to be the future of news as we were
finding from the participants responses. The participants were highly interested in the idea of
using the internet to present news to students as college students are more inclined to using
digital technology to retrieve information. However, the contradiction that presented itself was
the fact that social media could invite fake news, because information can be posted almost
instantly without being completely verified beforehand. Participant E brought up the issue by
stating, I think there is a lot of bias that plays into social media and news because it is hard to
get both perspectives (see Appendix G). The participants understand that online platforms
decrease the ability of being accurate in all news posts. Participant E pivoted towards that point
by talking about the increased bias in social media. The participants recognize moving online
will have its challenges, but they welcome the idea as a positively progressive one for their
organization. They plan to be committed to having a stable online influence as well.
LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH
Overlooking the data as a compilation, it is clear to see the organization deeply values the
existence of print copies of The Carroll News. By electing to recruits participants using the
nomination and piggyback routes, it was implicit that we heavily relied on the editor-in-chief to
select participants for us along with relying heavily on writers choosing to participate even
though no incentive was given. Funds were not available to purchase food for the writers as we
did for the editors, because of this we had a smaller turnout than the editors focus group. In
order to understand how The Carroll News website was ran by students when it first started, a
content analysis must be performed on the origins of the website alone. Our recruitment
techniques yielded data from those who are involved in the construction of the weekly issue,
which presents limitations in the data which must be answered with future research.
In order to be certain The Carroll News content will be consumed online at a higher rate
than content on print, extensive quantitative research must be performed for multiple topics.
First, data must be gathered regarding the population of students that use technology to consume
news campus wide. Second, gauging the JCU populous consumption of The Carroll News
content. Third, figuring out what percentage of the JCU community would appreciate an online
Carroll News initiative. These three factors paired with the qualitative data would allow for
quality suggestions regarding a full step forward with increasing the organizations influence as a
whole.
CONCLUSION
The Carroll News has established a sustainable culture surrounding fundamental
journalistic values. Through conducting the two focus groups, we were able to observe
commonalities with sentiments for the paper medium. Both the editors and writers
wholeheartedly believe that spending resources on printing a weekly paper encourages the
organization as a whole to continue publishing credible content. The two groups of participants
also understand how the internet can positively influence their organizations but for different
reasons. The editors recognize their portfolio can be easier for professional recruiters to observe
online and writers can identify an opportunity for The Carroll News to move towards digital
publishing platforms. However, since both the editors and the writers recognize the positive
outcomes of moving towards online, both understand the extra responsibility of introducing new
staff positions and ultimately more commitments.

The writers have expressed an openness to establishing a culture that prioritized
publishing original content online. While editors have struggled with introducing Medium in a
wholesome manner, the writers failed to mention the existence of such a website when
considering what platforms they would like their news content to be shared on. This study was
able to gauge how The Carroll News views their influence among the campus community which
sets a foundation for the organization to move online. This foundation is unstable due to
insecurities surrounding the ease of publishing fake news, the familiarity of print, and a lack of
understanding of which audience The Carroll News would cater to if they were to move online.
These insecurities cannot be answered without the implementation of a quantitative study that
wishes to optimize the size of their readership and the beneficence of everyone involved with
student-led newspaper organization.

REFERENCES
Jones. (2013, August 03). Boston Globe, once bought for $1.1 billion, sells for $70
million. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from
https://www.nbcnews.com/business/boston-globe-once-bought-1-1-billion-sells-70-million-6C10
835491
Sziak. (2010, August 02). Newsweek Sells For $1 To Stereo Equipment Mogul Sidney
Harman. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from
http://www.businessinsider.com/its-official-newsweek-will-be-sold-to-former-stereo-equipment-
mogul-sidney-harman-who-reportedly-bid-1-in-excha-2010-8
Xzang.J. (2011). Print will remain, but the the digital revolution will increase. The Print
Collector's Newsletter, 27(2), 45-50. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/24555766

APPENDICIES
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Question Function Rationale Time
Introduction: Please give your Set the stage for 5

name, year, role, and why you common ground minutes
chose to be a part of The Carroll amongst participants.
News. Begin to unravel why
they chose to be a part
of this organization.
Transition: Seeing why you joined Get participants 5-7

The Carroll News, tell me about comfortable with minutes
your experience as an editor for the talking about their
weekly newspaper. influence within their
own organization as
well as on campus.
What about editing for The Carroll Clarifying Reflection upon their 7
News do you find most fulfilling? personal motives minutes
behind their
involvement.
(Take common response amongst Adjoining Relate their motives 7

group and transition) Seeing that with the work and minutes
you all have this motive, how do influence they wish
you all think it relates to how you existed outside of a
view news outlets outside of The university
Carroll News? environment.
How do you think this all affects Funneling Reflect upon their 3
how you consume news outside of behaviors around news minutes
The Carroll News? after being aware of
why they are involved
in a news organization
in the first place.
Tell me more about how you Probe Begin to probe of any 3

consume your news content. instances of minutes
mentioning internet
consumption.
What makes the way you currently Clarifying/Probe Additional probing to 4

consume news convenient? see what digital minutes
options are presented.
Begin leading the
conversation towards
convenient ways of
news consumption.
How do you feel The Carroll News Elevating/Probe Raise the issue of 5-6
makes consumption convenient for accessibility of news minutes
John Carroll students/benefits content. Raise the
writers outside of writing for your event where readers in
organization? the past have benefited
from posting stories
online and was hired
at ESPN. Gauge this
priority.
How effective have your current Probe Probe for potential 6-8
methods been in creating feedback regarding minutes
convenience for your readers? readers accessing
content via digitally or
paper.
When it comes to being convenient Funneling Editors begin to 2-3

for readers on campus, what other describe what other minutes
mediums has The Carroll News forms of media they
explored? have explored to share
their content. They
should share their
experience with
Medium here.
Do you feel other methods of Probe Discuss how Medium 5

sharing Carroll News content has worked for the minutes
should be explored? If so, why or editors, writers,
why not and what methods do you readers, and the
think would work best? organization as a
whole. Raise the
concerns of Mr. Noll
& Dr. Buchanan.
(Should we?)
Appendix D
Appendix E
EDITOR PARTICIPANTS:
(Participants were asked to give their academic class, role with The Carroll News, and why they
decided to join The Carroll News.)
A - Senior, Managing Editor, Joined The Carroll News because she enjoys writing and wanted to
explore the opportunity to write more.
B - Senior, World News Editor, Education major, Loves to write, wrote for high school
newspaper, passionate about empowering people through writing.
C - Senior, English major & Biology minor, Op-Ed Editor, wanted to practice writing to refine
skills, had just transferred in to JCU from California and wanted to find new community
involving what she loves to do.
D - Senior, Communications (Integrated Marketing Communications focus) major, Arts & Life
Editor, joined sophomore year because former editor-in-chief Mary Frances McGowan recruited
him. Looking for opportunities to express himself.
E - Senior, Political Science Major, Editor-in-Chief, wrote for high school paper, wanted to get
involved on campus after not really doing anything his first year. Mother is an English teacher,
raised to write.
F - Sophomore, Communications (Digital Media focus) major, wrote for high school paper, Bob
Noll enlightened her to the opportunity pre-enrollment to JCU.
G - Junior, Communication and Political Science major, Rising Assistant Editor, general love for
journalism, knew he was going to join a newspaper organization coming into university.
(BEGIN FOCUS GROUP)
MODERATOR: Tell me about your experience as an editor for The Carroll News. For G, maybe
explain a little about how you were able to become an assistant editor.
G: I showed up every single week, I was persistent, thats honestly how I got this job and I didnt
suck at writing.
E: Honestly thats the same as my story. I started off in World News like G did. The former
World News editor needed to cut something out of her life and he recognized my skill so he
trained me. I did that for a while and the Editor-in-Chief thing just kind of fell in my lap.
A: Just being a consistent writer, I started off in the Campus section just as a staff reporter. The
two Campus editors were about to graduate so they made me the assistant Campus editor. The
managing editor position also just kind of fell into my lap. You move up by writing often and
having a lot of experience. People notice that and they ask you to help out and move up.
B: I started writing for World News the first meeting my freshman year. Eventually half way
through the semester I was made the assistant editor. When the end of the semester began, I
became the World News editor. Then I left for a semest
E: Oh yeah I forgot about that! They were in Disney.
B: Yes, I was at Disney for an internship and when I came back Ryan and I were co-editors for a
hot sec. Then I bounced over to Campus for 10 issues. Then the former editor-in-chief made me
their managing editor my junior year and now I am back at World News. So Ive been all around
this room.
C: I was writing for E pretty, I would say, inconsistently. I needed to buckle down so I kept
writing more and more. Then I heard the Op-Ed editors position was open. I kept asking the
former editor for the position until eventually they were like Yeah and I got it.
D: I originally started writing for The Carroll News in Campus. The former editor-in-chief said
that was a good place to start just because its local, you write your 300-400 words, whatever
you needed to write. Then they quickly passed me off to the Arts & Life Editor at the time and
they asked me to write for them. They eventually bumped me up to assistant editor only after two
weeks of writing for them. It was really frightening that I was eventually going to take over their
position. I was unsure if I could do it all myself. Now, being an editor, at first I thought it was
going to be really scary but now I find it to be one of the most exciting things. I picked F to help
me out just because I definitely couldnt do all of this by myself and they help me out when I
cant come in everyday. They help me come up with ideas which is another one of the hard
things.
F: The beginning of my freshman year I started off writing for Arts & Life. Eventually D came
up to me and asked if I wanted to be assistant editor and now I guess we are co-editors. I think I
consistently wrote for Arts & Life and the editing staff saw everything that I was doing so thats
pretty much how I got to where I am today.
MODERATOR: What do you find most fulfilling about editing for The Carroll News?
D: I want to go first.
Everyone laughs
I have a great example. I never knew what my role as an editor would have brought to me until
this semester. One of our writers, they had emailed me today saying Hey sorry I wasnt able to
make it to the meeting today but I looked at the paper and my jaw dropped. I didnt realize my
article was going to get so much space on one of the pages. For me, it was the satisfaction or the
idea that I was able to bring somebody elses work to life and put it out there for them as the best
product it can be. Literally, having the ability to give someone the same platform I got when I
was younger as a writer was so satisfying.
A: Kind of going off what D said, the first article I wrote for The Carroll News was on the front
page, above the fold, and that was the best feeling in the world. Thats what made me come back.
To look at it and see your name in print and think about how many people are going to see it on
campus. It gives you an exciting feeling that makes you want to come back. As for the editors,
when you have a dedicated space like a column where you can share your opinion on a topic and
when you get an email back from professors or other readers saying, Im glad you wrote about
that that makes you feel like youre doing something that matters. Thats one of my favorite
parts about The Carroll News.
B: Im going to be a teacher so Im really big on noticing growth and development. Thats one
part I really enjoy seeing. One of my writers started writing last year and has continued writing
this year. Theyve written just about a dozen stories now. Seeing the growth from the first one to
now is so fun to see. Theyve really embraced journalism and writing in AP style plus all of
these things we hear in our journalism classes but do not necessarily apply all the time. Just
seeing the growth is really gratifying because just knowing you somewhat had something to do
with that is great to see.
E: Thats what I was going to say. I dont really remember your first article specifically, C, but I
do remember seeing peoples writing for the first time is sighs not what we are looking for.
Everyone laughs
C: I know it was bad

E: Then being able to ask them to come in for about 10 minutes just to talk about it and coach
them through the process. Teaching them the difference between writing for an English class vs.
an article for the newspaper, seeing that growth is really great to see. Of course, just seeing your
name in print is really, in a way, a life changing experience especially after the first time you see
it.
G: Getting my first newspaper and seeing my name in print, it was such a weird experience and I
fell in love with it. I took it home and my mom fell in love with it. Now I have to give her my
article every week when I go home just so she can see my name in it.
B: You also get this really cool sense of ownership because The Carroll News comes out as a
newspaper, not just your story, its a whole compilation. You acknowledge that youre a part of a
group that we all worked together to create a product that people are going to read. People get
these out of state as well, like alumni. They get The Carroll News delivered to them. Its so cool
being a part of a product every week that people work together to create.
E: We are the student voice. Thats what we like to say. Ever since 1925 which I think is
incredible. I do think actually seeing our names in a physical copy of news rather than seeing it
on a screenjust because you can write a 500 word Facebook post and thats still your name on
a screenbut when it comes out of the vehicle of The Carroll News and goes through the
printing press, I think that makes a difference... at least for us. Maybe not how the information
gets out there but morale-wise I think its cool to actually see your name in print.
MODERATOR: Seeing that you all have this common motive of providing a platform and
empowering your writers, how do you feel it relates to your view of news outside of this room,
outside of The Carroll News.

E: I think its a greater respect for what people are doing at a different news outlet. Were a
school newspaper, its not like we have any stories that are life-changing or have breaking news
that we print weekly. So when you see these stories that are printed out there or on TV, whatever
it may be, you just see people get ridiculed for it. Then you think to yourself, My God, they
must have worked so hard on that story and now people are just coming at them. With fake
news being out there and having worked at a newspaper just adds a different element of not pain,
Im not physically tolled by it. These people are working hard and theyre trying to put the truth
out there. Some have an agenda but most dont. I think having worked at a newspaper changed
my outlook on other newspapers for the most part.
B: When that whole fake news thing started happening last year, I remember a lot of Tuesday
nights while we are editing we were just so frustrated about it. Its not like we are The New York
Times or anything, we can feel it. We can see how frustrating it can be to see The New York
Times be discredited and accused of fake news on a very big platform. Its very disheartening to
know we work so hard, they work 30 times harder, and theyre getting slapped like this and it got
to us really good last year.
D: It can be kind of scary to see that happen. We kind of live in a little bubble being here on
campus so our news is just kind of local on-campus news. But when you see the big newspapers
get slammed, everything goes wrong. It was kind of discouraging questioning yourself, How am
I going to every survive past The Carroll News doing what I want to do. I want to be a
magazine writing/editor but how will I be able to get into that environment if like, The New
York Times is discredited and yelled at for having fake news. You get this doubt put into your
head like, you have to push past this because its our job as young writers to make sure that
what we put out there is the best thing we can do. We dont let other people try and discredit us
for what we do. Your news is you child and youre proud of it and when someone comes up to
you and says I dont like that, I dont believe it, its hard but now its motivating.
B: They just made a really good point because we are the next generation of journalists and
throughout the next 20 years we are going to be writing these stories. One of the former editors
for The Carroll News just had a story published on NBC.com. Its huge and they were just in our
shoes last year, just six months ago. We are the ones that are going to be doing these kinds of
stories. Whats important for us to know what is going on out there and how people generally see
us. We need to know all of that before we get our news out there.
A: This is why we are always trying to recruit people to write for The Carroll News because its
such a good time for people to get experience in the field youre looking towards joining in the
future. Obviously, we arent as big as The New York Times and we arent publishing stories as
groundbreaking or important but you are learning a lot of the same skills you will be using later
on in your writing career.
MODERATOR: Tell me more about how you all consume outside news the most.
B: Online.
C: Social media. Social media platforms. Its all social media at this point which is kind of awful
because we all love print so much.
Everyone laughs
MODERATOR: Tell me a little bit more why you love print so much.
C: It feels great to read something in your hands. To know that its what you produced. Im not
going to say its alive and breathing but you produced it and youre alive. It feels real. Online
never feels as real as a piece of paper does and its awful because say a phone and paper can be
destroyed. It means so much more. Anyone can post anything online.
E: I think a physical print copy from any news outlet gives you a sense of credibility. They arent
going to print something if its not true.
D: Its kind of more permanent if its on paper.
E: Yeah, yeah, exactly.
D: Because you cant go back and edit.
E: Online if you got something wrong, its wrong for a day. For us, if something is wrong its
wrong for a week and that is incredibly embarrassing. We had a couple times this year where
someone has approached us and said, hey this isnt true. Or something was misquoted. And Im
there like oh shoot we have to sit here for a week with the wrong information out there like that.
For The New York Times, its only a day. There is a certain amount of credibility for a print
issue. Personally I try to log into Twitter as much as I can to get my news and because The New
York Times is free here I try to pick that up as much as possible. Well, theyll stop giving out
issues to John Carroll students beginning in November.
B: We have some feelings about that.
MODERATOR: What are some feelings about that?
E: We were very upsetupset is the wrong wordmad. We were very mad. We were just mad.
We will be the only print newspaper on-campus come this November. In my view, students
going towe all get our own online accounts on New York Times so well still have access to it.
I just dont think people are going to pick it up. If you walk by the news stands in the mornings
youll see a huge stack of New York Times and USA Today. When you walk by later in the day
and theyre gone. Someone is picking them up and reading what is out there permanently from a
credible news organization. Now without it, people just might turn to what they want to hear.
Which is what I think is the main problem that were experiencing in media. People are just
going to the outlets they want to hear from and not getting it from a fair and balanced outlet.
MODERATOR: Im hearing that you all obtain your news from online sources like social media.
My question is why do you consume online news if you feel this way about print?
G: Its just easier. You can get news at any time of day from your phone. If you wanted to read
print, youd have to find a place that sells it and actually go and buy it. Its partly convenience
and you do get a lot of information from organizations that have websites. You can find
hundreds of articles. For people like us its amazingly us. I couldnt imagine doing this work in
the 80s... thatd be terrible.
B: The New York Times I pick up in the morning very well may not be relevant by the time the
day ends. This week I wrote about the attack in New York. That day, the news didnt exist on
paper, only online. We cant produce a paper every thirty minutes. Thats just not going to
happen. With online platforms you can get constant new information which is a double edged
sword because you dont know if that information is right.
E: I really dont like that you can get it instantly. Im actually not a fan of the 24 hours news
cycle because I believe it does more damage than help, that being said if I had an hour long show
every day Id be thrilled. So I think Im being a little bit hypocritical but seriously though, what
can you actually talk about 24 hours a day. Of course there is a lot going on but either everyone
is talking about the same thing or theyre talking about things that dont need to be talk about. I
have no examples but I personally dont think thats a good thing that we have a 24 hours cycle.
C: Its also relates to an article E wrote for an editorial questioning what is the real news? If its
happening now and if in half an hour its not true, theyre getting it from reporters, you really
dont know the hard facts until the next day. Were humans and we dont communicate that
quickly, we make quick mistakes and reporters can say this and that. Youre going to be stuck
deciphering what is true and untrue. I think people just have to wait.
MODERATOR: So Im hearing that its a good thing that you can get food quickly but it runs
the risk of being less reliable.
C: Yes.
E: Because everyone wants to go whats going on. I mean, were humans. We, well for me, I
need to know whats going on. Thats why I have these notifications on on my phone. Like C
said there was a time where there wasnt a 24 hour news cycle you had to wait. You dont know
what happened until you got the paper in the morning or you watch the 6 oclock news at night.
Thats when they had all the facts. Maybe Im wrong but thats when all the news organizations
could gather all the facts, verify that everything is right, then report on it. Whereas now, reporters
just live tweet it, which can be very helpful. But sometimes they have to retract and you see their
retraction tweet.
B: A really good example is what happened with the Boston Marathon bombing where there
were these two people on Reddit accusing someone and all of a sudden people starting hunting
them when they werent the bomber. I believe it was retweeted by some sort of reputable news
station. Its good to get this information as quick as possible but if its not reliable then is it
worth it?
MIKAS: Imagine if this news cycle existed for 9/11. You would get tweets that didnt have
accurate information when the first plane hit and the second plane hit. All different kinds of
people would be getting different information based on when the facts came in. It would have
been a mess. So maybe it was a blessing that we still had something like a 24 hour news cycle.
MODERATOR: That being said, what makes you feel The Carroll News makes consumption
convenient for John Carroll students and how does it benefit your writers outside of writing for
your organization?
E: Were free. I think thats a good thing especially for college students. I doesnt cost anything
to reach down and grab a paper every week. I think thats probably the main thing. Its free and
available.
B: Weekly. Were not always in their face but were in their face enough. Its constant enough
our readers feel the need to come back and see whats going on.
E: Yeah, if the paper doesnt hit the news stands on time I have people texting me asking whats
going on. I always have to be like, Its coming!
Everyone laughs
F: I think the fact its print helps too. When people pick up the paper and other people see them,
they go an pick up a paper as well. Sometimes I forget its Thursday and I see someone else
reading it and I remember to go pick up a paper. I feel like if we were just digital that wouldnt
happen as much.
D: Right now I feel the digital form of The Carroll News is just easier to share with people that
arent here. I feel the physical copy of The Carroll News does phenomenally well here. People
always pick it up and put it for places to look at it. Theyre always on the tables in the OMalley
Center. If I see something on the tables in the OMalley Center I will pick it up and read it
because its in my way sometimes and I know that if its put there, its put there for a reason.
Now, I use the Medium articles as a way to share them with my mom or family. I feel the online
version right now wouldnt be efficient.
E: We need improvements there.
MODERATOR: When I was having a conversation with a faculty member they mentioned to me
that there was a writer for The Carroll News that published a sports story online and eventually it
was noticed by ESPN and eventually hired. That being said, how do your current methods
benefit your writers?
E: I think its unique that we are on print. I havent gone in to any interviews yet but if I went in
with a huge stack of newspapers like, Hey, my work is printed in every one of these, rather
than like, Hey, heres my link, which is also very beneficial but I believe that if you were to
walk in with 20 newspapers, I think that would absolutely set you apart from everyone else.
C: I actually did that.
A: I did that too.
C: With my job they called me and said they wanted me to write for them but they still wanted to
see more of my work. I told them the only other thing I have available aside from what Ive
given you is my column. So I brought about 4-5 physical copies of the paper and they were...they
kind of looked at me like I was crazy and they asked if I was actually in this and I told them that
Im an editor now and you can also see that growth. They were like, Okay! Well youre in.
B: It makes it more credible. I mean, everyone and their cousin has a blog right now. I think I
have three in all honestly. But if you have something that is published on paper, your work was
good enough to go on paper that will last for years. Thats a lot different than handing over a
blog that not everyone will read. Money was spent to print your words with the trust that they are
correct and good enough for people to read them. Its different.
F: It teaches us to really pay attention to detail. By the end of each week, we probably have a
stack of 7 versions of each page of the paper and you can really see how much weve improved
so many little details weve had to fix. I feel like because were constantly printing it we need to
pay attention to that.
C: It always goes back to growth and development. I mean even my first article was not good,
Ive improved. My articles I wrote this year Ive gotten reviews from professors and everyone in
the office. You just see your own growth.
MODERATOR: How effective have your current methods been in creating convenience for your
readers.
E: We print 1,400 copies a week.
MODERATOR: 1,400.
E: Yeah.
MODERATOR: Okay.
E: So there are plenty of papers. We never run out.
B: We print out 1,400?
E: Yeah.
B: Wow I never knew that.
E: It used to be 1,600 but we cut back.
B: But look how little we have left. Out of 1,400. Thats considerable. Out of an undergrad
population of 3,000. Thats not half bad.
E: Were free and very very available. We never run out of copies
MODERATOR: Would you say your current methods are effective to make your work easy to
access for your readers?
E: Physically, yes. I dont think our Medium account is efficient yet. I dont know why. I think
its because we havent all sat down just to learn it. But its so easy. We can do it. I know we can
do it.
MODERATOR: What do you feel needs to happen in order to make it successful?
E: I think we need to follow Ds example and constantly share what we are writing. Telling
people, Hey this is on Medium now. Please share it on Facebook, Twitter, as much as you can.
Because that is how were going to get a wider audience. Our audience here is kind of limited to
3,000-4,000 students and faculty. If we want to recognized by outlets like ESPN, were going
have to share our work online. I do think there is a happy medium for using both physical copies
and using Medium.
A: I think the thing with Medium that we need to work on is being more consistent. I know that
B and D are really good at putting their section story up like every single week. And they
schedule it so it comes out right after The Carroll News print copy comes out on Thursdays. We
also have other people that havent made accounts yet. Then some that are kind of in the middle
that use them sometimes but not like every week. So, I think once we get people posting every
single week so that our website is actually up and updated whenever you look at it, like its
always current, we can start also sharing articles on social media like on Facebook and Twitter.
Like we all just said, we find all of our news on social media. Why isnt our news up there? I
think that will, like D said, help our circulation a lot to reach people not at John Carroll.
MODERATOR: Do you feel accessing news on social media and on the internet is kind of a
generational thing that is unique to us?
E: Yeah.
B: Yeah.
A: Yeah.
G: Yeah.
D: I like to do this with my writers. After I put their articles on Medium, I like to send out an
email reminding them about the upcoming meeting this coming week. Then I share the article
links with them, so they share it on their social media. I want them to share them with people
who arent here because you should be proud of your work and I feel like that can also get the
traction Medium needs to be a little bit more credible when it comes to what we do here. I think
the other thing is that Medium is an easy website to use. I think that people dont realize that it
can be used for such a professional manner. Some people might look it as just another blog
website and question why is The Carroll News isnt on its own website? Managing a website
itself is hard enough.
MODERATOR: Have you all explored having your own website?
E: We had one for a while. Last year we kind of made the switch because weve been looking for
a web editor for a long time. Because I think that in and of itself is a one if not two person job.
No one stepped up to the plate.
B: It also gets a little rough. The domain name thecarrollnews.com is owned by a JCU alumni
who wont give it to us unless we pay them around $6,000.

E: I didnt know that.
B: Originally it was jcunews.com.
E: Thats still up.
B: It was just outdated.
E: You can go look at it, it just looks like a clunky 90s website.
B: Yeah we call it our archives now. Its linked on our Medium account as archives.
MODERATOR: Do you feel other methods of sharing Carroll News content should be explored?
If so, why or why not. What methods do you think would work best?
E: I think we kind of answered but yeah of course. I mean the more people that read what we are
writing the better. We feel as of right now, the best way to do that is Medium so thats what
were currently working on. I think we need to work a little more on it.
D: The best way to get media out there is to put it in peoples faces. It literally comes down to
asking, do we market ourselves well enough to have people look at what were doing? It just
comes down to every writing sharing their articles, are we asking the writers if their articles are
online? Thats another thing, I had one of my writers text me and they asked, Is my article
online? I want to share it with someone. I completely forgot to let them know that their articles
are online. Ive been putting them on Medium for the last two weeks. I had failed to mention it to
them. Thats when I started sharing the links in my emails because if they ever wanted them it
was there.
E: I just want to say one more thing about reputation I just thought about. If you think about what
news outlets are the most reputable, they absolutely have an online presence but they also have
something else whether its print or TV. So I think us having a print, hopefully always having a
print issue, will put us in that category. If you look at Breitbart they dont have a TV station. I
dont think they print anything. What they do is immediately, as soon as they can do it, they post
online and shared by a bunch of people. But I think if they had a print issue, well maybe not
them. It forces you to be a little more reputable because more people are seeing it.
Reputation-wise I think that is an important factor.
A: I guess Id like to add, Im always surprised to see how few of us are on The Carroll News.
Maybe its because they got rid of the journalism track in the Communication department or
maybe people are interested in other majors, Im not sure. But Carroll News is literally the best
thing you can do at John Carroll in my opinion. Ive had four internships in the past two years
and at the interviews for every single one they ask, What do you do at The Carroll News?
They have a copy of my resume at the table and they point out that Im an editor and ask about
my job. You just learn so many skills. You learn exceptional writing skills. Even if you dont
come in as a good writer, you will leave as a good writer. You learn AP style and if you are
interested in journalism, that is an essential skill you have to have. You learn how to meet
deadlines, which you need to learn how to do for any job. You have to learn to work with a team
because you are working with photographers, writers, editors. Its just such a great opportunity
so Im always surprised how we dont have more people. I wish there was a way to let everyone
know how big of an opportunity we have here.
B: We learn how to take criticism. There hasnt been a single article Ive ever written that has
come back perfect every single time. You learn how to take the criticism and learn from it. I
dont care what job youre going to do. You will always have to learn how to read and write.
You also learn InDesign. Thats huge. HUGE. Photoshop for some sections. Huge skill. All these
things are huge. I dont get why people dont join.
D: When I got my internship literally the only thing they wanted to talk about was my Carroll
News experience. I put it on my resume. I had also put it on my online portfolio that they had
visited. They did use those linked that I had posted and they read through it. They wanted to
know what was my motivation, how I did it, what my job was, everything. I think maybe 20
minutes out of my hour interview talking about The Carroll News. I talked about how I learned
InDesign. They told me, We use InDesign. We need people who know how to use InDesign.
That was amazing. The fact that I wrote a lot already, they said they have all their interns write
19 blogs while they are here. Every time I sent them a blog they told me they were extremely
well written. I had minimal edits. They explained that it makes their job easier that I know how
to write and put content out there. The Carroll News has only been beneficial to me. Ive never
had anything backfire.
C: I got my job using Carroll News too.
F: If you go to a bigger school you might never have any of these opportunities. We are so
fortunate here. I mean I am a sophomore and Im already in the editors seat. Its a really cool
experience here.
G: Just going off of A and Bs point, I blame my class a lot that there isnt a lot of people here. I
dont know what it is but my class is graduating in 2019. Theres just a ton of people who arent
involved in anything. I dont understand why that is. The only other person besides me in my
class that actively gets involved in that paper, radio, and internships is another editor on the staff.
Im sure theres one or two out there. It is shocking to me how bad my class is at participating at
stuff like this and I dont know why. I just hope that me participating, hopefully I can pull some
of the slack of my class and get our reputation up.
B: It does go in waves.
D: I have noticed that.
B: We reach a peak, then now were kind of sloping down. But then well peak again. It goes in
huge waves. A former editor is at NBC. Another one is now at ESPN. When people here about
that theyll come here to John Carroll. It goes and comes in waves.
(END FOCUS GROUP)

Appendix F
Question Function Rationale Time
Introduction: Please Set the stage for 5 minutes

give your name, year, common ground
role, and why you amongst participants.
chose to be a part of Begin to unravel why
The Carroll News. they chose to be a part
of this organization.
Transition: Seeing why Get participants 5-7 minutes

you joined The Carroll comfortable with
News, tell me about talking about their
your experience as a influence within their
writer for the weekly own organization as
newspaper. well as on campus.
What about writing for Clarifying Reflection upon their 7 minutes

The Carroll News do personal motives
you find most behind their
fulfilling? involvement.
(Take common Adjoining Relate their motives 7 minutes

response amongst with the work and
group and transition) influence they have
Seeing that you all have with The Carroll News
this motive, how do with how they feel
you all think it relates writers make it to
to how writers for bigger news outlets.
bigger news outlets got
to their position and
your own view on how
you all will get there?
How do you think this Funneling Reflect upon their 3 minutes

all relates to how you behaviors around news
consume news outside after being aware of
of The Carroll News? why they are involved
in a news organization
in the first place.
Tell me more about Probe Begin to probe of any 3 minutes

how you consume your instances of mentioning
news content. internet consumption.
What makes the way Clarifying/Probe Additional probing to 4 minutes

you currently consume see what digital options
news convenient? are presented. Begin
leading the
conversation towards
convenient ways of
news consumption.
How do you feel The Elevating/Probe Raise the issue of 5-6 minutes
Carroll News benefits accessibility of news
you all outside of content. Raise the event
writing for your where writers in the
organization? past have benefited
from posting stories
online and was hired at
ESPN. Gauge this
priority.
How effective have Probe Probe for potential 6-8 minutes

your current methods feedback regarding
been in readers readers accessing
engaging with your content via digitally or
content? How have paper.
readers engaged with
your writing?
When it comes to being Funneling Writers begin to 2-3 minutes

convenient for readers describe what other
on campus, what other forms of media they
mediums has The have explored to share
Carroll News explored? their content. They
should share their
experience with
Medium here.
Do you feel other Probe Discuss how Medium 5 minutes

methods of sharing has worked for the
Carroll News content editors, writers, readers,
should be explored? If and the organization as
so, why or why not and a whole.
what methods do you
think would work best?
Appendix G
WRITERS PARTICIPANTS:
(Participants were asked to give their reason why they decided to join The Carroll News.)
A - Sophomore, joined The Carroll News because they wanted writing experience.
B - Freshman, desires to share work with the world. Joined The Carroll News because they were
heavily involved with journalism in high school.
C - Senior, joined The Carroll News to gain experience with student organizations.
D - Sophomore, joined The Carroll News because they cared a lot about journalism.
E - Freshman, joined The Carroll News because they are considering a career in journalism.
MODERATOR 1: Seeing why you all have your motives for joining The Carroll News, tell me a
little more about your experience as a writer for the weekly paper here.
A: I find it to be a fairly easy process if you pick articles you really like talking about. If you
write about something you really care about, it becomes really easy at least for me.
B: I love how for the general meetings, they put a lot of ideas out there for articles but they are
open to listening your own ideas. It opens the door for creativity.
C: Especially at the meetings, there are many section writers. Because of that, The Carroll News
has a lot of opportunities to produce many stories.
D: Last year, I wrote for the business section. Then at the end of the year when we switched
staffs, I became an editor and began writing for the Campus section. I just love Campus so much
because you get to interact with people and get to cover things that go on right around you.
E: My experience is always a challenge. Writing for Campus involved putting yourself out there
a lot. Talking to people who you just approach and its weird for me. It could be somebody
totally random. It has been a learning experience and Ive been really enjoying it.
MODERATOR 1: What about writing for The Carroll News do you find most fulfilling?
D: For me, every week when you see the paper come out. You know you put so much effort into
it. You know you had to go out and interview someone or go out to an event. You know they had
to sit down and write this whole thing and made sure it sounded exactly how you wanted. Then
when you pick it up, youre proud and you tell yourself, I did this.
E: I would agree with that. Its about people reading your articles and having them be informed.
You had a hand in facilitating that.
B: I love being able to write about something that piques my interest especially for my fellow
students and peers. Theyre going to want to hear about something just as much as I wanted to.
Thats really exciting.
A: To me its like a little project. Its fun to work on it then when youre finished you feel really
good and youre satisfied.
C: For me, putting information into one form as an article is something I love.
MODERATOR 1: Seeing that you all like receiving positive feedback from your friends or
treating your work like projects about something you care about, how do you think that those
motives relates to those writers at bigger news outlets and how they were able to make it into
their positions?
E: I think you write about what youre passionate about. I think that is how a lot of writers and
authors end up being so successful because they stuck to what they knew and continue to allow
that to grow through their career and education.
A: I think a lot of them didnt stick to what they know. Some of them tried new things and put
themselves into uncomfortable positions. Even in writing, doing that can help you grow.
D: I think its the process of becoming content with failure sometimes. I know for me, sometimes
the editors would fix my articles even though we are in the same room. I see my paper come
back to me with all these red marks. I was surprised, I was like oh my gosh what is this? But in
the end they want to help you be a better writer.
MODERATOR 1: Do you feel these actions and motives relate to how you all consume news
outside of The Carroll News?
C: When youre writing articles, you can reflect about what youve read in the past. When
thinking about an article idea, I construct what I want to write based upon what Ive read in the
past. Maybe articles and academic papers are completely different. So I need knowledge on how
to write different compositions.
MODERATORS 1: Another way to rephrase the question is, how do you all consume news aside
from just The Carroll News.
E: Oh okay, I watch a lot of my news on my phone. I follow journalism Twitter accounts and
stuff like that. I like my news to be immediate and right there without having to leaf through
paper to find what I want to read. But writing for The Carroll News has definitely given me a
different perspective on reading news. Its a lot more involved and it feels good to read a paper
but I like both ways of receiving information.

D: I definitely agree with that so much because like, I get the emails from our journalism class.
So Ill have a bunch of stories in my inbox where I can just go through and just read the
headlines if I don't want to read the whole thing.
MODERATOR 1: Whats fulfilling about picking up the paper compared to the convenience of
checking news instantly on social media?
E: Its almost more intimate. You have your own experience with what is going on in front of
you. You can see something on social media, but you are only one of millions of people who
potentially saw that. You see the paper and you say this is my own experience with my own
reactions.
B: I also think a lot of the times news on social media and phones is often times not very
accurate. So when you hear about a newspaper, not only do you know it is electric and its
classic. You know a lot of work went into it. The people here at The Carroll News spend hours
on end to make sure we get a paper every week. They do a lot of research and verify information
to make sure people are getting good information every Thursday morning compared to social
media, there is so much false news that goes out there.
MODERATOR 1: Could you tell an example of uncredible news being on social media?
B: I think recently there have been a lot of crazy things going on with all the sex scandals. You
dont know what actually happened unless youre hearing it from an actual source. On Twitter
you see all these people posting 140 characters about what they say is the newest news where
they can have no background or backing. People look at the first thing they see on social media
and think its true.

E: I think there is a lot of bias that plays into social media and news because it is hard to get both
perspectives.
C: Some social media have a limited number of characters, people cant always but lengthy
information. Limited information can cause misinterpretation. When looking at an article on
paper and looking at an article on a device, I think people read things in different ways. People
can scroll up and down quite easily. Some information is skipped.
E: I agree with that. When Im reading paper, Im in it for the long haul. Im actually going to sit
down and read it. But if I am on my phone I am just going to skim it.
MODERATOR 1: Hearing about your opinions about online news, a common response from you
all was, so many people are reading this. What makes The Carroll News accessible to the
readers here on campus compared to the news that you consume.
E: Well its right in front of them. Anywhere you walk in the student center you are going to be
able to find a stack of The Carroll News.
D: See I agree with that, but maybe its because we are the ones that put it out there. If you think
about it, we are the ones asking others, Hey did you grab a copy of The Carroll News? Then
people say back to me, where do you even get one? And Im always so confused they are
literally right there.
B: Thats true. A lot of the times I think the professors are more aware of The Carroll News. I
always have professors mention it to me to grab a copy. I agree that students should be reading it
more but a lot of professors I think have a high appreciation for it too. Not just for the students
but for the school.

D: Professors for sure. I always have professors come up to me and comment on how they read
my work and say how it was so great. Its the best.
MODERATOR 1: Why do you feel professors value the paper medium so much?
B, D, E: They grew up reading it.
E: Its because everyone is so consumed on their phones. Now its so easy to access information
but everyone before our generation was used to newspapers.
MODERATOR 1: With that being said, who do you want reading your content at the end of the
day?
E: Anybody who wants to read it.
B: Anybody who needs to read it.
D: Pretty much everybody.
MODERATOR 1: How you feel this organization, The Carroll News, benefits you all outside of
writing for this organization.
A: It makes me more willing to tackle other articles in the future and do this more often.
B: Yeah. It gives you experience and practice. Its good for future careers. For me at least, it
makes me more assertive when I talk to people because saying what I mean is helpful.
D: It has definitely given me a lot more confidence in my writing. Coming in last year, I was
terrified. I was really self-conscious about my work. I didnt want other people reading my work.
But then after the first couple weeks, Bob was in here and told me he loved my article and that
was so sweet. Eventually you start to believe in yourself more and improve.
C: It gives me an opportunity to explore the school. Even when discussing World News or
business you learn something new. When you read the content, you discuss inside yourself. It
helps you understand topics much more professionally.
B: It sets you up professionally as well. It puts yourself out there. It gives you new experience.
You get to meet so many awesome people here and you hope those people also become
successful after they graduate and move on. It makes people more confident.
MODERATOR 1: Talking about goals, do you feel like The Carroll News is helping you reach
your goals?
E: Mhm
MODERATOR 1: How so?
A: Simply by providing the experience. I feel its hard to find newspaper experience, at least this
early on I think.
D: I know for COMM classes we have to do those e-portfolio things. Im currently working on
mine right now. Im looking at my peers kind of struggle with not knowing what to put on there
but Im like, I got some stuff from Carroll News!
MODERATOR 1: How effective have the organization's methods been with engaging readers
with your content. What do you think can be improved?
E: I think whoever wants to read it has access to it, but I also think that we should work upon
improving the website so our articles can go up on there. Also using our social media pages to
provide teasers for our articles to guide people where to read them. Posting pictures of what is
going on with the organization.

A: Its hard to get people away from their fingertips on their phones. If its right there, they are
more likely to go into the articles themselves and read them.
E: I also know that John Carroll would also put out like notifications through emails like the
Weekend Wowzer or Inside JCU to let us know what is going on. So what if someone opens up
their laptop for their 8 am lecture, not only do they see the Weekend Wowzer they also see the
newspaper links. They can click on it and they can read. I know when I open up my laptop in the
morning things like that are the first thing that I click on.
C: Sometimes the newspaper start at low position. When people stand and the newspapers are
around your ankles, it should be placed a little higher. At least eye level. At least with me I have
trouble seeing the paper because it is at such a low position.
MODERATOR 1: How can you potentially market The Carroll News to increase involvement?
E: I have an idea, making the outside of The Carroll News more attractive and appealing to
people would make our office more recognizable.
A: Yeah, getting people more involved, the whole JCU community can feel like they are a part
of The Carroll News instead of us pushing our content onto the community.
E: I know in high school for our photo club, someone painted a mural to make our club stand out
more. Im sure there are some artistic students here that would be willing to help out with
something like that.
C: Its extremely simple, just print out the front page and post them on the windows like posters
so people can see us easily. There are many posters that attract many people. At the radio station,
they also use posters that are very easy to see.

E: Maybe if there was a new writers event to welcome people to kind of get rid of the nerves
with new members.
D: I agree, maybe if we had some activities where we all get to know each other. Unless you are
an editor in the room, you dont really get the opportunity to know everyone in the room.
E: I know I heard something about the radio bootcamp and that it worked really well. Maybe if
there was something like a journalism bootcamp, I think it would really entice a lot of people to
join The Carroll News.
A: I think maybe even letting the writers write about what they really want to write about instead
of just assigning topics. That would allow for more creative pieces to be written.
MODERATOR 2: Id like to ask, how committed would you all be pursuing the idea of a Carroll
News social media component?
E: I would be very committed. I am all for bringing in new ideas. Seeing what works and what
doesnt, I really like to tackle big projects. I think it would be something I definitely would be
invested in.
D: I personally dont want to be in charge of that aspect. I dont use social media all that much
but I believe that it will help us get our name out there and spread out news and would be happy
to help with that as that is our goal.
B: I would like to do something like that. I think stuff like that is so exciting and looking at other
clubs I would love to do something like that for them. I think social media gets stuff out there
really fast. I think Instagram would help get content out there really fast. Sorority and fraternity
life is a good example, everyone follows each other and you get to see what they are up to. I just
noticed it has been really effective for other clubs.

A: You get to choose which way you present The Carroll News online. You can choose the
silliest pictures and people would look at us like, Wow that looks like a lot of fun.
D: Also, I think Twitter is super important. I remember I had a speaker come into our class just
to speak to us about how Twitter is such a great platform for breaking news. I think its really
important to build our skill set with Twitter.
E: Also while I was looking for internships, there were a lot of job opportunities for social media
managers. So providing somebody the opportunity to get that experience would be really
beneficial to them and the school. I feel like it would be a real competitive position that a lot of
people would want to pick it up because of the professional opportunities after college.
A: Also, Twitter is more link-friendly. So I think we need Twitter if we do Instagram.
MODERATOR 1: Is The Carroll News already present on social media?
D: I think one of the editors is in charge of the Twitter. He puts out a tweet saying, make sure
you pick up The Carroll News this week.
E: I didnt know that though.
B: I follow The Carroll News on Twitter and I dont really see any tweets from them. But they
are also on LinkedIn so I follow them on there. But either way, its definitely nothing that
engaging.
E: I would definitely be on board for helping make that happen. I dont know if I want to be so
involved with it, but definitely getting the ball rolling.
D: I agree, Id love to see it happen.
(END FOCUS GROUP)

Appendix H
Appendix I

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Running Head: THE CARROLL NEWS ONLINE 1

The Carroll News Online:

Assisting The Carroll News Increase Their Presence Online

Carlos Cruz, Phil Ghansah

John Carroll University

Limitations and Future Research...19

Limitations and Future Research...29

increasing their influence online?

while pushing ideas of increasing online influence in the near future.

readership, but the staffs responsibilities around online publishing as whole.

The Carroll News is an on-campus student-run newspaper that traditionally published

and were lucky if a quarter of the papers are picked up by students.

medium of delivering news to readers, they were considered to be one-size monopolies.

to thrive in twenty-years ago. (Xzang, 2010)

readers to appreciate online newspapers to be able to continue enjoying quick accessibility to

Times is around today.

being published on December 7, 2016.

register writers to the online publication.

newspapers causing a readership to remain stagnant. Baldwin-Wallaces student newspaper, The

student-led newspaper organizations to expand their readership.

follow the outlet.

Second, establishing a culture or structure centered around career advancement and

explore the possibility of constructing an exclusive webpage.

The Carroll News benefit from increasing their influence online?

group had concluded.

group. Participant B, an education major; participant C, an English major; and participant D, a

communication major focusing in integrated marketing communication, all classified as seniors

focus in journalism. Participant E is the editor-in-chief and identified as a senior majoring in

political science. Participant F classified as a sophomore majoring in communication with a

understanding on how to better improve their online influence.

training around posting articles online.

Political climate surrounding journalism as a whole, described by the participants as

negative public relations with their readership.

Prioritizing Online Presence

empowering their writers.

anything they wanted online while erasing it just as quickly.

wont give it to us unless we pay that person around $6,000.

questions from the question protocol.

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH

the ones who produce it.

challenges surrounding the usage of a paper medium and digital platforms.

who are primarily writers.

become a better journalist, and gain a career in journalism.

journalism after college.

checking on pre-published information to ensure its complete accuracy. Participant E agreed

system works with The Carroll News.

Social Media Possibility

our news and thats our goal, (see Appendix G).

Participant E stated Oh okay, I watch a lot of my news on my phone. I follow journalism

mainly through journalism twitter accounts.

organization. They plan to be committed to having a stable online influence as well.

LIMITATIONS AND FUTURE RESEARCH

The Carroll News has established a sustainable culture surrounding fundamental

staff positions and ultimately more commitments.

The writers have expressed an openness to establishing a culture that prioritized

student-led newspaper organization.

million. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from

Harman. Retrieved October 06, 2017, from