<aside> 📣 Centralizing news story management and increasing visibility on publication issues for over 250 admin and contributors at Chicago newspaper nonprofit, South Side Weekly.

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Summary

Hack4Impact is a student organization at UIUC that works with nonprofits to build software for social good. I was part of a team working with South Side Weekly (SSW), a Chicago newspaper nonprofit, to build a web-based dashboard for 250+ users to manage stories and contributors.

This project was taken on by Hack4Impact in the spring 2021 semester. I joined the project during the fall 2021 semester as the sole designer of the team.

<aside> 💌 We shipped the dashboard in February 2022 and our client has been loving it! The managing director even believes this product can be scaled for use at other newspaper nonprofits.

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Context

South Side Weekly is a local newspaper nonprofit based in the South Side of Chicago that supports cultural and civic engagement on the South Side, and develops emerging journalists, writers, and artists. Here’s some relevant terminology:

• Pitch: a newspaper story
• Submit a pitch: contributor submits a pitch idea and admin either approve or decline it
• Claim a pitch: contributor submits a request to work on an approved pitch
• Team: a category of contributor (ex. photography, editing, writing, visuals, fact-checking)