NEW ALBANY, IN (Aug. 20, 2010) – IU Southeast students looking for fast access to campus news only need an iPhone: There’s an app for that.
IU Southeast’s student newspaper, The Horizon, released an iPhone application featuring campus news for students, alumni, faculty, and staff this summer.
With the free app, students can read news, features, and sports-related stories, as well as watch The Horizon Newscasts on their smart phones. Exclusive stories not published in the weekly newspaper will also be offered to app users. Owners of an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad can download the app from the iTunes app store.
“This puts the paper in an exclusive club. Not many student newspapers have this. It’s so impressive,” said IU Southeast Professor of Journalism James St. Clair.
The Horizon app includes features such as:
• Instant alerts on breaking news and news releases
• Updated to support all iOS versions, including iPhone 4.
• Share stories via e-mail
• Share stories on Facebook and Twitter
• Local Twitter updates
• Coming soon: mail-a-story-to-the-editors feature
Matthew Chinn, a Horizon editor and journalism senior, created the app over the course of a year, including acquiring the developer license and submitting the app for approval by the iTunes store.
“Basically, I wanted to increase our readership” Chinn said. “You can’t ignore smart-phones and their users.”
“Matt took the idea and ran with it,” Joseph Dever, senior editor of The Horizon, said. “It proves that while we’re a small paper, we always get the job done.”
Dever also said the app offered accessibility to the news specifically about their campus that students might not otherwise receive.
Chinn also participated in a research study for the journalism program, through an undergraduate research fellowship provided by the University, which included readership efficiency through print, computer, smart phone, and iPad media.
Indiana University also has its own iPhone application – IU Mobile – which provides news and information for all IU campuses. Students taking advantage of IU Mobile can access Oncourse for class information, find out which computer labs have open computers, receive IT notices, check on campus events, and more. Visit m.iu.edu for more information and to sign up.
The Horizon also is available online at iushorizon.wordpress.com.