The Online Reflector

The Reflector has been printed since 1922. However, it was not until 2001 that The Reflector was made available online. The website features the same content that the print version of the newspaper does, but on it also is original content that is not available in print.

The Reflector Online’s first editor was Gretchen Rush Becker, who has since graduated and is now married with a daughter.

Becker became The Reflector’s first online editor after being a reporter for the newspaper the year before.

After writing stories for the newspaper, she was offered the online editor position.

“The online position was going to be a new position,” Becker said. “There was already a staff in place that was older than me, and they were in line for the top editor roles. So that [online editor] was a place where I could step right in.”

Although Becker said she is not a computer person and definitely was not when she was offered the position, she eagerly accepted the position and started working to get The Reflector Online up and running.

“It was more complicated than just getting stories online. Just learning the process was hard because I’m not computer savvy,” Becker said. “It was all very new to everyone.  I think they put me into the position because they saw potential for The Reflector Online and I had done a good job as a reporter.”

Becker said that she spent a lot of time working with General Manager of WICR-FM and Instructor of Communication Scott Uecker to set up the website and get the stories posted on the web.

“He [Uecker] and I did a lot of learning together,” Becker said. “At the time, we worked with a lot of programs that are ancient today and they were tough to deal with.”

Uecker said that Becker did a lot of the real work.

“Gretchen is giving me more credit than I deserve. She was always that way,” he said.

Uecker said that The Reflector Online was needed for the newspaper to stay current.

“It was pretty obvious that this was where print journalism was going. They [the students] were going to have to have a forum that they could put content online,” Uecker said. “So anything I could do to help students make that a reality I was certainly willing to do.”

According to Becker, it was important for the staff to decide which content to publish online and which to print.

They decided it would be a good balance for The Reflector Online to not only feature all printed content, but also to post online articles exclusive to The Reflector Online.

Becker said that the print newspaper was still mostly in black and white when she was starting up The Reflector Online.

“We were excited to have one color in the print newspaper, let alone a fancy website,” Becker said.

Becker said that although the process was hard work, it was worth it.

“It was a good learning experience,” she said. “And I was able to put the stories online!”