The Daily Collegian (Penn State)

Infobox Newspaper
name =


caption = The paper's February 25 2008 front page
type = Daily newspaper
format = Broadsheet
foundation = October 1, 1904
owners = Collegian Inc.
publisher = Collegian Inc.
headquarters = 123 S. Burrowes St.,
University Park, PA 16801-3882
chiefeditor = Terry Casey
assoceditor = Andy Staub
managingeditordesign = Kristen Huth
photoeditor = Nathan A. Smith
opeditor = Jessica Remitz
campuseditor = Lauren McCormack
campuschief = Matt Conte
sportseditor = Virginia Harrison
customerservice = Max George
circulation = 40,180
website = [http://www.psucollegian.com www.psucollegian.com]

"The Daily Collegian" is the student-operated newspaper at the Pennsylvania State University. It is published during the Fall, Spring, and second Summer semesters of the University's class schedules. It is distributed daily for free at the University Park campus, and is available off-campus for 35 cents per copy. A compilation edition of the week's top stories known as the Weekly Collegian is also distributed free of charge at the University's Commonwealth campuses. The newspaper's stated mission is "to publish a quality campus newspaper and to provide a rewarding educational experience for the student staff members." The student editing staff annually receive notable journalism awards. [ [http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/collegian_info/awards.asp Awards for The Daily Collegian] ]

History

The first student newspaper at Penn State was the "Free Lance", which was first published in 1887. Lack of financial support from students led to its collapse in 1904, but that same year saw the foundation of a new paper, the "State Collegian". In 1911, the name of the paper was changed to the "Penn State Collegian", and on September 14, 1920, the paper began being published semi-weekly. In 1940, the newspaper was transformed into a non-profit corporation, complete with an elected board of directors, and began daily publishing, changing its name to "The Daily Collegian". [ [http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/collegian_info/history.asp The Daily Collegian History] ] During World War II, the newspaper was only published weekly or semi-weekly, but following the war, in 1949, the paper won the top national award from the Associated Collegiate Press. In 1996, "The Digital Collegian" was founded, providing online access to all of "The Daily Collegian's" stories. The paper is run by students of The Pennsylvania State University with assistance from a small professional staff.

The Daily Collegian Online

Beginning with the fall 2006 semester, "The Digital Collegian" was re-named [http://www.collegian.psu.edu "The Daily Collegian Online"] and a revised home page layout made its debut. [ [http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2006/09/09-05-06tdc/09-05-06dops-column-01.asp Collegian editor says change is on the way] ] A new "Web" department was created with the purpose of creating online updates of breaking news or to post stories when classes were not in session [ [http://www.collegian.psu.edu/interactive/staff/staff.asp?Division=News&Semester=Fall&Year=2006 The Daily Collegian Online - Published independently by students at Penn State ] ] . The Daily Collegian Online also features a series of student-written blogs, including a [http://www.collegian.psu.edu/blogs/eic/ blog written by the paper's editor in chief] . Snippets of blogs are published every day in the "blog lines" feature on the Opinions pages and in other sections of the paper. November 2007 saw the first time a full blog post was reprinted in the paper, [http://www.collegian.psu.edu/archive/2007/11/14/goodbye_farm_i_never_really_li.aspx an entry from the Travis' Travels blog] .

The Daily Collegian online is somewhat unique in that it does not rely on the popular College Publisher network. This was an internal decision made by the Daily Collegian staff to ensure that the Collegian would be in full control of its site and online ad revenues.

The Paper Documentary Film

The Daily Collegian is the subject of a 78 minute documentary film called " [http://www.thepaperdocumentary.com The Paper] ". The film was created by Aaron Matthews, and uses the student newspaper as a case study for the problems that face all newspapers today—flagging circulation, minority coverage, and access to sources. It should be noted that in the years after the documentary, the Collegian has hit record highs in circulation, and has begun to implement diversity awareness policies.

Prestige

The Daily Collegian is often considered one of the top student-run college newspapers in the nation. In its most recent yearly list, the Princeton Review named the Daily Collegian the 9th best college paper in the United States.

Many staff members and editors receive state and national awards in journalism for their work.

Collegian Publications

The Daily Collegian

Published weekdays when classes are in session during the fall, spring and second summer session semesters at Penn State. Distributed on the University Park campus. Includes local news and sports, state, national and international coverage (with some stories coming from the Associated Press wire). Fridays feature a full page of arts reviews. In 2007 the Collegian introduced the "Special Section," a single page dedicated to a different topic (Health and Fitness, Business, Sex and Dating, Technology and Travel) every Tuesday.

The Weekly Collegian

Published Wednesdays while classes are in session, it is distributed on Commonwealth Campuses and mailed to subscribers. The Weekly Collegian, which launched September 12, 1979, contains the top news stories from Penn State each week. Only one issue of the Weekly is published over the summer session: a fall sports preview. The issue uses a tabloid format, and is sometimes mistaken as an issue of Collegian Magazine. The publication, which is heavy on sports coverage, also targets parents of current students, alumni, sports fans and anyone interested in Penn State news.

Venues

Published Thursdays and included as an insert inside of The Daily Collegian, Venues magazine contains bar specials, movie times and stories about the State College arts scene. Venues was redesigned for the Fall 2007 semester, adopting a more youthful look and shifting its focus from long previews to a more feature-heavy format. The Collegian also distributes standalone copies of Venues on Fridays on the University Park campus and downtown State College.

Collegian Magazine

Established in 1980, Collegian Magazine is a feature magazine for special events and special topics, and bridges the gaps in publication created by Penn State's semester schedule. The name was originally adopted to provide a unifying identity for a number of tabloid-size special sections that were being published from time to time. Along with the name, a publication schedule and a common format were adopted. More issues were added.

Typically, 13 issues are published each year. All but two are free-standing publications. Two are inserted in The Daily Collegian with additional free-standing circulation. Many issues target audiences other than current students on the University Park campus. Additional issues and one-time issues can be added to the schedule. For example, a special issue was published following a Penn State football victory in a post-season bowl game.

Today, the regular issues are:

--Summer 101 Issue in May This issue remains on display during the start of the first six-week summer session, when The Daily Collegian is not publishing.

--Arts Festival Issue in July, during the Central Pennsylvania Festival of the Arts.

--Fall 101 Issue in August, published on arrival day for new students.

--Stadium issues (for each home football game), issues are distributed in the Beaver Stadium area.

--Blue-White Issue (with extra distribution at Beaver Stadium for the annual spring football scrimmage).

--Finals Week issues, published Monday during fall and spring finals weeks.

--"Thaw," a spring break tie-in with stories reflecting the changing seasons. This has replaced the "Living" magazine, which was originally created to aid students in finding living arrangements for the next year.

Collegian Online

All print issues of the Collegian are also published online at [http://www.collegian.psu.edu www.collegian.psu.edu] or [http://www.collegian.psu.edu/ www.psucollegian.com] in addition to University Park and State College area updates during the day and on the weekends and extended coverage from articles appearing in print.

Application and Training Program

To become part of the staff, students first take a test in which they must write a sample article and answer questions about current events. A limited pool of students is selected for personal interviews with the paper's editors and reporters. After that, the editors and news advisor meet to decide which of those applicants will be selected to enter into the candidate program.

The candidate program is a semester-long training course taught by the on-staff advisor. Candidates are required to attend weekly classes and perform administrative duties for one hour each week. They must also write a minimum of four stories for publication over the course of the semester. Candidates must also pass a journalism skills test at the end of the semester.

Even if a candidate completes the training process, that does not secure him or her a place on staff. The editorial board meets with the news advisor at the end of the semester to determine which candidates will be placed on the staff.

Many of the paper's editors are among those who were rejected one or more times during this process and kept trying until they were accepted.

References

External links

* [http://www.psucollegian.com/ "The Daily Collegian Online"]
* [http://www.thepaperdocumentary.com "The Paper (2007 Documentary Film)"]