La Roche student newspaper rebranded with new name, focus on digital publishing

The student newspaper at La Roche University in McCandless has revamped its format to reflect changes in the industry and to allow student journalists to focus on digital publishing.

The La Roche Courier has ended a 25-year run and is being replaced by the Redhawk Post, which will allow readers to view stories electronically on computers and smartphones.

“Redhawk Post reflects current trends in an ever-changing media marketplace,” said English professor Ed Stankowski, who serves as the newspaper’s advisor.

“More importantly, though, Redhawk Post continues the tradition of providing important pre-professional training for La Roche writers. The staff and I are greatly excited to use this platform to share our work.”

The La Roche Courier began as a print publication in 1995 and transitioned to an online-only newspaper in 2008. The final issue was published in March 2021.

While the Courier could be viewed online after 2008, the site did not have digital media capabilities or a responsive design, said Brady Butler, a spokesman for the university.

“Students basically laid the paper out like a traditional newspaper that was then put online instead of printed,” he said.

Butler said the old format also did not allow writers to insert links to sources or related stories.

The transition to Redhawk Post also will allow La Roche’s student writers to reach a wider audience, said Madeline Riccardi, the newspaper’s editor-in-chief and social media coordinator.

“Through our previous platform, the target audience was the La Roche community,” she said. “With the new platform, our writers can have their work read by curious people both inside and outside of La Roche.

“There is no specific target audience anymore, leading our writers to receive the outside attention they deserve,” Riccardi said.

In addition to Riccardi, the newspaper’s staff includes Steven Munshower, Luke Schultheis, Max Robinette, Alysha Pluta, Anna Kleinschnitz and Kailyn Lunn.