From Wis Week to Inside UW: Saying goodbye to print

When I was an eager, young college newspaper editor 11 years ago, I would never have imagined myself later advocating for a shift from newsprint, ink and late-night press runs to an electronic publication. People love lingering over their newspapers, I thought: the sensation of the paper, the sound of the turning pages, the portability, the convenience.

A lot has changed in those 11 years. So here I am, putting together the last issue of Wisconsin Week, a publication that has kept faculty and staff up to date on campus news since its trial issue in December 1985.

Wisconsin Week was developed with a goal of providing a better avenue of communication on campus. The intention was to centralize the communication efforts made via memos, letters, correspondence and notes that were included with pay stubs, which were expensive to print and mail. Wisconsin Week also replaced two publications, Datelines and Madison Newsletter, by providing events listings and other faculty/staff news, such as legal notices and requests for grant proposals and award nominations.

Initially, the paper was published weekly during the academic year and biweekly during the summer and was eight black-and-white pages, with some spot color on occasion. In 1994, Wisconsin Week began being published every other week during only the fall and spring semesters, a schedule we still follow today. That change was made to save money and paper.

A little over a year ago, while considering more effective ways to communicate to campus, we in University Communications began thinking about what might be a best next step for Wisconsin Week. The news cycle is different now. We regularly send three or four news releases a day, and it was becoming harder to keep Wisconsin Week’s content fresh. We decided to develop an electronic publication that would be delivered via email to all faculty and staff twice a week, and we’ve spent months developing a product that we hope will more effectively meet the needs of campus.

The new publication, called Inside UW–Madison, will still include the faculty and staff profiles, photos, milestones and policy announcements you’re used to seeing in Wisconsin Week. But we’ll also feature blogs and social media; give departments all over campus an opportunity to include their news; provide a look at how the science discoveries on campus happen; and offer readers a chance to submit photos, recipes or just their thoughts on campus issues. And it’ll reach you in a more timely fashion, via a method that is more environmentally friendly than our printed publication.

So with this, my 111th issue, I’m putting Wisconsin Week to bed for the last time. As someone who loves print, it’s a little bittersweet, but I’m excited about the changes ahead. Thank you to all the writers, photographers and designers who have contributed for the last 25 years. Thanks especially to the editors who shaped the publication and helped build its credibility. And thank you for reading — I hope you enjoy what comes next.

Watch UW News this summer for more details. For comments or questions about Wisconsin Week or Inside UW–Madison, email Inside UW.