The Organization

CoPress is a non-profit organization dedicated to providing college news outlets with the technical resources they need to achieve sustainability online (or as we put it previously, to “building a better technical ecosystem for student news organizations”). What the heck does that mean? In short, we want to use any means necessary to help these extremely valuable properties avoid extinction; the long explanation, of course, gets a bit more complicated.

As we see it, student news organizations are in a precarious position much like the rest of the journalism industry. Firmly moored in traditional practices and supported by what amounts to a captive audience, many previously thought that college newspapers would be OK just trudging along. Unfortunately, that does not appear to be the case; moreover, operating around obsolete ideas does a huge disservice to those that will soon be the powering the world’s media.

Just like with their “big brothers,” change in college media can’t come overnight and it won’t come from a single tool or method. This inconvenient truth stems from the fact that, despite a relatively small market, incredible fragmentation and diversity still exists among student news outlets. While some organizations have the resources to handle issues with innovation in-house, the probable majority simply does not. Thus, they cling to what they know they can do well.

This mode of operation will not sustain college media. For it to survive (and thrive) both as a viable system of dissemination and as students’ gateway to the world of professional journalism, a collaborative effort must be put forth to pool and assess current knowledge, discuss methods of operation and the future, and develop solutions that can be adapted for and applied across a variety of news outlets. Helping fulfill these needs is where CoPress comes in.

Find CoPress on: Twitter | Facebook | info@copress.org

Get involved: Email group | Community | Knowledge

The Team

The CoPress core team is composed of students from around the country and with a variety of backgrounds. We each bring to the table specific areas of interest and expertise, but as a whole we hope to facilitate the creation of visions and action plans for the future of student media. If you would like to dedicate yourself to helping us achieve this goal in ways other than those provided on this site, please contact us.

Daniel Bachhuber

Executive Director Daniel Bachhuber is a junior Environmental Science and Journalism major currently taking a break from the University of Oregon. After freshman year at Whitman College doing IT and photography for the Whitman Pioneer, he worked as the Web Production Intern for Grist, an environmental news non-profit. CoPress began as a side-project while starting work for the Oregon Daily Emerald, and Daniel is currently interning with Publish2. He has experience working with WordPress, Plone, and Bricolage. In his spare time, Daniel enjoys running, getting outside, and traveling to far off places.

Find Daniel on: Twitter | Facebook | danielbachhuber.com | daniel [at] copress [dot] org

Adam Hemphill

Operations Director Adam Hemphill is a senior communication major and digital art & design minor at Eastern Connecticut State University. Following several years of work as a photojournalist and designer for a local newspaper, Adam took a position as Managing Editor at The Campus Lantern where he oversaw the country’s first college newspaper to go Web-only (though the publication later reverted to producing a printed product). He also helped develop innovative projects as an intern at Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive and EveryBlock. Adam is an avid cyclist and spends his spare time trying in vain to concentrate on things other than work.

Find Adam on: Twitter | Facebook | adamhemphill.com | adam [at] copress [dot] org

Joey Baker

Business Director Joey Baker is a political science and communications photography major at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. He currently serves as Exponent of the Evolution at The Daily Orange after a year as Photo Editor. In this role, Joey is responsible for the development and expansion of “new media” including blog networks, Twitter, video podcasting and promotion of online journalism within the paper. He is an avid assignment photographer who is just as comfortable in a riot as in the studio, and though he is a self-proclaimed geek, Joey can’t go more than a few months without a good backpack trip.

Find Joey on: Twitter | Facebook | byjoeybaker.com | joey [at] copress [dot] org

Miles Skorpen

Hosting Director Miles Skorpen is a political science major, with a minor in history, at Swarthmore College. After serving as Photography Editor and Technology Director at The Daily Gazette, Miles was named the Editor-in-Chief of the online-only news organization. In this role, he led a transition first to a WordPress-powered website in 2007, and later spearheaded the development of a Django news platform unveiled in late 2008. During his breaks, Miles likes to SCUBA, travel and hike.

Find Miles on: Twitter | Facebook | milesskorpen.com | miles [at] copress [dot] org

Greg Linch

Community Director Greg Linch is a senior majoring in journalism and political science, with a minor in Spanish, at the University of Miami in Florida. He currently advises online and multimedia as Editor at Large for The Miami Hurricane, where he served as Editor in Chief from August 2007 to May 2008. During his tenure he led The Hurricane’s efforts to move from College Publisher 4 to WordPress, completed in August 2008. Greg has interned with the Sun-Sentinel and The Miami Herald and he will be at The Dallas Morning News this summer. Outside of journalism, he enjoys listening to music, playing guitar and rewatching Arrested Develpment on DVD.

Find Greg on: Twitter | Facebook | greglinch.com | greg [at] copress [dot] org

Emily Kostic

Editorial Associate Emily Kostic is a junior journalism major at Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey, where she currently serves as Managing Editor and Web Editor for The Whit. In her role, Emily led the staff in incorporating more multimedia tools after The Whit transitioned to WordPress as CoPress’ first client. Outside of journalism, Emily enjoys traveling and listening to music.

Find Emily on: Twitter | Facebook | emilykostic.com | emily [at] copress [dot] org

Bryan Murley

Adviser Bryan Murley is an assistant professor of new and emerging media in the journalism department at Eastern Illinois University. There, he advises EIU’s Pacemaker-winning online student news outlet, dennews.com, and teach classes. Bryan is a doctoral student at the University of South Carolina and the former webmaster for College Media Advisers, Inc. Additionally, he blogs and undertakes other activities at the Center for Innovation in College Media.

Find Bryan on: Twitter | Facebook | bryanmurley.com | bryan [at] copress [dot] org

Albert Sun

Associate Albert Sun is a junior majoring in math and economics at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He is leading The Daily Pennsylvanian in their effort to develop a new series of Web sites based on the Drupal content management system, and under his watch, the DP took major steps towards producing all manners of multimedia content. Albert has experience with a variety of web development frameworks and systems including WordPress, Drupal and Django. He interned with BusinessWeek.com last summer and will be with WSJ.com this coming summer. In his spare time, Albert likes to run, play video games and experiment with food.

Find Albert on: Twitter | Facebook | albertsun.info | albert [at] copress [dot] org

(Made it all the way down here and still want to get involved? Get in touch!)