Established in August 2016, the Delta Digital News Service primarily serves Northeast Arkansas. It originates around four goals:

1. Providing an educational experience while striving to capture the essence of the region’s culture and character, and candidly discussing undercovered issues and subjects.
2. Promoting community discourse in the Delta by telling insightful stories reflecting the concerns, diversity and energy of the area.
3. Investigating policy effects on regional lives.
4. Creating content partnerships with regional outlets.

FAQ

What is DDNS? A working lab environment for undergraduate students that feeds content to news organizations of all sizes and types. The lab serves as an anchor project for Arkansas State University’s Media and Communication’s multimedia journalism program.

Why? Students gain real-world experience in a laboratory setting, i.e. they pitch ideas, research, interview, then tell the stories in a multimedia format. Their clips will help them in a competitive job market.

Regional outlets can use the work with proper attribution (see here). This provides regional insights from/for the 18-24 year-old demographic.

Where? Residing in the largest city in Northeast Arkansas, the Delta Digital News Service primarily covers the Jonesboro-Paragould metropolitan area, i.e. more than 160,000 residents.

MAILING ADDRESS POB 1930 | State University AR | 72467

Who? AState students at various stages of the multimedia journalism program can hone their journalistic storytelling skills. Content may include but is not limited to multimedia storytelling and Web-only content from advanced TV students (e.g. mini-docs).

Dr. Ronald Sitton coordinates the publication in accordance with College Media Advisers’ Code of Ethics. He can be reached via email at sitton@outlook.com.

How? Students in media courses may submit relevant class content focusing on community and regional issues. AState-centric content should be submitted to The Herald, ASU-TV or RedWolf Radio.

Students strive for accuracy and fairness, and submit updates via Twitter using the hashtag #DDNS.

When? Material will be published the moment fit for distribution during the academic calendar at Arkansas State University in Jonesboro. We expect website updates at no fewer than three times a week once the semester begins.