Printing Television

With so many newspapers falling on hard times (and folding) in this Internet age, The Aiken Standard is going in the opposite direction.  Its loyal audience is not only expanding, but the paper is growing beyond print in ways so few others across the country have even considered, much less accomplished.

A lot of the credit should go to The Standard’s news manager, Tim O’Briant.  Whether it’s print, TV or online, journalism is about being a community’s eyes, ears and voice.  But for so many years, journalists were passionate about their field of expertise without ever trying to understand (or even participate in) the “other guys” end of the business.  That’s changed in the past ten years or so as a new generation of journalists moved up the management ladder.  We know that you want information and you want it on your time, not ours.  We also acknowledge that you don’t always watch “our channel” or “read our newspaper.”

So in order to stay relevant, we have to expand our horizons.  Back to Tim.  Creating a frequently updated website with great storytelling, extensive coverage of the community and even some video and interviews is something you’ve come to expect from your traditional media over the years.  So Tim and his crew decided to create a new product for all of us that nobody is providing (not even the TV folks).  Entering its second year, The Aiken Standard will shoot and present for broadcast a high school football game of the week.  Just like Monday Night Football, you’ll get it all.  The sights, the sounds, the awesome plays.  Even play-by-play and some Madden-like color commentary.  And they aren’t doing this on the cheap.  We’re talking about high-tech equipment that makes computer geeks like me envious.  It’s a big investment that only goes to show The Aiken Standard’s commitment to community.

WJBF has the privilege of making that hard work available to you every Saturday going forward.  So tune in to our digital channel, 6.2 (or channel 246 on some local cable providers) every Saturday night at 7pm.  We’ll replay the games on Mondays at 4pm.

I hope you’ll watch and support this venture.  And whether you live in Aiken or not, I really recommend you visit http://www.aikenstandard.com/ from time-to-time.  I think you’ll find it a must-have daily destination.