In the fall of 2006, Dr. Jim Stovall joined the faculty in the School of Journalism and Electronic Media. He was invited to UT to start a news web site for the school that would become known as the Tennessee Journalist. This site would be independent of the school newspaper and would be produced exclusively by students.

Some of the students enrolled last fall in the class Managing News Websites, comprised the first editorial staff for the site. 

Stovall didn't have to look far for the technical support to create a site that was not bound by uniformity. Staci Wolfe, a graduate student, was referred to Stovall. Wolfe came from the University of Kansas and was very knowledgable about elements he wanted the site to be capable of. Johnny Dobbins, a technical expert, joined the team and he and Wolfe began to create a site that would be easy to use from the back end and visually pleasing on the front end.

"I didn`t allow myself to make predictions, if I did I wouldn't have succeeded. I am exceptionally pleased with the progress." Jim Stovall on the progress of the Tennessee Journalist 

The site launched on October 12, 2006 with the first appearing articles from Professor Daniel Foley's sports writing class.

Although Stovall was very pleased with the initial outcome of the site, he still wondered "if you build it, will they come?" He wasn`t sure if the students would be interested in the new addition.

However one year later he has found they have come and with extreme enthusiasm. Last month the site reached a record high in traffic with only 448 hits shy of 40,000 unique visits.

While the site is still young, the possibilites are unbound by the limitless capabilites of the Web.

UT is not the only university that has a news site. The University of Kansas, Utah State University and the University of Maryland also have news Web sites with similar characteristics to the Tennessee Journalist, with notable differences.

The University of Kansas: The University Daily Kansan

• Mirrors the campus paper The Daily Kansan, which is 18-24 pages and costs 25 cents per copy.
• Produced by journalism students. 
• The site was started 10 years ago.
• Web classes are not in the same building as the journalism classes. The web classes also produce a site, but it is not student run. All content is decided by administrators.
  
• Kanson.com also includes Jayplay, an 18-20 page online version of  an entertainment weekly insert.
• Blogs are produced seperate for the Web.
• Student interaction includes online voting for a T-shirt contest and online polls.
• Used by many alumni.
  
• Produces some video and audio.
  
• Future plans: The staff recently received an HDTV video camera which they hope start a streaming sports talk show.

• Produced by writers in various classes in the Journalism and Communication Department.
  
• Students in the Hard News Cafe class produce content specifically for the site for credit.
• Former students still contribute as a forum for the publication.
• The campus paper, The Statesman, is completely independent of the site with different content.
• Staff consists of 8-10 staff members, a part-time undergraduate webmaster and faculty adviser.
• HNC was created in 1998 to serve as a way to publish student work.
• Breaking news recently covered were an anthrax scare, a fire on campus and a bad accident that closed the main highway in town.
  
• Future plans: Hopes to have video clips that are keyword-searchable.

The University of Maryland: Maryland Newsline

• Produced by undergraduate and graduate students.
• The site was started in January 2001.
• Independent of the school paper, the Diamondback.
• Produces mostly news and features on politics and public policy.
• Content is also provided by students writing for the Capital News Service. Students report from Annapolis and Washington, D.C. on beats from the State House and Congress and various other topics.
  
• Newscasts from the capitals by broadcast students are linked on the site.
  
• Chris Harvey, executive editor, edits all content.
• The site is updated three times a week during the regular semesters.
• Future plans: Blogs are currently used sparingly on the site. Harvey hopes to have an all purpose blog.

There are marked differences among news web sites. Even though the Tennessee Journalist has only been in existance for a year, there have been many accomplishments.

In that year, students from other journalism classes such JEM 275 contribute to the site. Numerous audio, video, photos and audio slideshows have appeared on the site. Regular video footage includes "InSight UT" and "Ask a..."

It has covered breaking news such as power outages on campus and the McClung warehouse fire. A new section was developed by the former Arts and Culture editor, Amanda Wills, allowing students studying abroad to blog about experiences in different countries.

Stovall said he saw the possibilities with the site and he still see possibilites for the future.

"I didn't allow myself to make predictions, if I did I wouldn't have succeeded," Stovall said. "I am exceptionally pleased with the progress."