Story by Katie Ericson
The Internet has become one of the most important resources for students. Through it, they have access to an unlimited amount of information, assistance and contacts. A new addition that is geared toward journalists is Pressfolios.
Pressfolios is a website that allows journalists to show their work all on one site. By uploading links to published material, they can create a page of their work.
“I see it as a great way for people who have writing published on various websites can bring all of their best work onto one portfolio website,” said Chris Snider, instructor of practice in multimedia.
Though the site is less than one year old, it has already undergone many changes and improvements. You are allowed to choose eight stories that will be featured and appear first on your home page which also shows a cover photo. There is a biography section, and all of your stories are stored securely on the website as PDFs.
Junior Larissa Wurm started using Pressfolios after Snider recommended it.
“It’s a cool tool to try out and an easy way to get your work up and out there for people to see, kind of like LinkedIn, but more targeted towards journalists,” said Wurm.
Much like a blog, the site is dedicated to helping journalists showcase their work. By including options for photos and profiles, the site is slowly branching out so that people can use it for more than just stories.
That was the only problem sophomore Taylor Larson had with the site.
“As a PR student, I have writing clips that have been published, but would really like to be able to put some of my planning and other experience in my portfolio, too.”
However, Pressfolios is trying to take people’s recommendations and suggestions into account. Wurm said that she had been having some troubles with the site, but they were easy to fix.
“The Pressfolios blog has been really good about explaining what the purpose of the site is, giving examples of how other people have set up theirs, and they are really encouraging interacting with them on Twitter and Facebook,” Wurm said. “They encourage you to tweet them any questions you have, and they started a hashtag and everything.”
With this open mindset about their website, Pressfolios is still clearly a developing site, but one that is a great tool for journalism students. If interested in Pressfolios, go to http://pressfolios.com/ and sign up for your own account. If you know someone who already has a pressfolio, both of you can add an additional five free articles to your pressfolio.
