North Texas Daily digital media audit

1. Type everything into the Google Doc. No pasting text blocks from anywhere, including this page. The professor checks Version History, and a name without real contributions gets a zero.
2. Re-check every number yourself. The figures here were collected September 15 to 18. Numbers change, so record what you see and the date you saw it.
3. Screenshot as you go. Name each file with the platform and date, for example instagram-reels-2026-09-27.png, and drop it in the Doc.
4. Evidence before opinion. Every claim in our paper should point to a number, a screenshot, or a quote. The SWOT especially has to come from our findings, not assumptions.
5. Write one recommendation from your own section. Five people, five recommendations, which meets the minimum.

What we already know

Questions to answer in your own words

• Why is this a strong choice for a digital audit?
• Who is its audience: students, faculty, Denton residents, alumni?
• Which platforms does it actively use today, and which has it abandoned?

What we already know

• The site runs on BLOX CMS, a platform many newspapers use.
• Its robots.txt file blocks about thirty AI bots, including the ones that feature publishers in AI search answers. It matches BLOX's default settings, so it may be accidental. This can affect how easily people find NT Daily stories.

What to collect

• Screenshots of the homepage, one article page, and the menu, on both desktop and phone
• How many clicks it takes to find the newest story, the sports section, and the contact page
• Whether the search bar works and returns useful results
• Pop-ups, ads, or paywalls that interrupt reading
• Text size, color contrast, image alt text, and captions on any video
• Whether social icons and a newsletter signup appear in the header or footer

Questions to answer in your own words

• Could a first-time visitor tell within five seconds what this site is and who runs it?
• Does it look and feel credible compared with a local TV station site?
• Where did you get stuck or confused?
• Who might struggle to use it, such as someone on a phone or with low vision?

The two most active platforms are Instagram (posting as recently as September 17) and Facebook (the largest following). YouTube and TikTok data belong in Section 4 and the SWOT.

Instagram: what we already know

Careful: Reels show views, but static posts only show likes. Those are different measurements, so don't compare them directly.

Facebook: what we already know

What to collect on both platforms

• The last 10 to 15 posts: date, format (Reel, photo, carousel, link), and likes, comments, shares, or views
• How many posts in the last 30 days, and whether there are long gaps
• The top three posts by engagement and what they have in common
• A sample of real comments: questions, praise, complaints, and whether NT Daily replies

Questions to answer in your own words

• Does the voice sound like students, a professional newsroom, or a mix?
• Which format clearly wins, and how should that shape staffing?
• What does each platform do well that the other doesn't?

The Linktree hub

• Four links total. Social icons point to Instagram, X, Facebook, and YouTube. No TikTok and no Threads.
• One link still advertises a "Friday May 23" summer orientation, which was May 2025.
• No link points to an actual story.
• TikTok has no link in its bio at all.

Calls to action

YouTube has 42,629 lifetime views but only 184 subscribers, which suggests viewers are rarely asked to subscribe. Instagram captions send readers to the link in bio.

Brand voice: one word, used once

Still to check

• Which social platforms ntdaily.com links to (coordinate with Lauren)
• Whether the website has a newsletter signup and where
• Whether stories on the site get promoted on social, and how quickly

Below is the evidence pool so far. Pick the strongest items, confirm them, and add what Lauren and Emma find. Every item should trace back to a number or screenshot in the Doc.

Items without a number yet, like staff turnover and competition, need a source before they go in the final paper.

Use this structure for yours

1. The recommendation in one clear sentence
2. The evidence from your section that supports it
3. The first step a media manager would take
4. How to measure it, such as views, followers, or signups

Where each person's recommendation can come from

Sources to format

• ntdaily.com homepage and any articles cited
• NT Daily profiles: Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, TikTok, Linktree
• ntdaily.com/robots.txt
• Associated Collegiate Press, for the Pacemaker Awards
• Texas Tribune coverage of UNT budget cuts
• The interview, cited as a personal communication
• Course readings, if we reference them

Ask each member to log every source they use, with the link and date accessed, in a sources list at the bottom of the Google Doc.

The assignment encourages contacting the organization's digital or social media lead. Email the NT Daily editor-in-chief or social media editor by September 28. Starter questions:

• Who manages your social media, and how many people are on that team?
• Which platform do you consider most important right now, and why?
• How do you decide which stories become videos?
• Do you track analytics? Which numbers matter most to you?
• What happened with the TikTok account after 2022?

1. Mon, Sept 28All data and screenshots in the Google Doc. Interview email sent.
2. Fri, Oct 2Section drafts complete.
3. Mon, Oct 5SWOT complete, all five recommendations in.
4. Wed, Oct 7Final edit and group review.
5. Thu, Oct 8Submit.