‘College journalism’ archive

April 17: How you cover the Boston bombings if you have no photos

Moriah Smith, creative director of the Iowa State Daily — the student paper at Iowa State University in Ames — writes: I found your post about all the Boston Marathon coverage very interesting. When I saw your favorite headline from the coverage, it brought our front page from today to mind. Iowa State had 16 students who participated in the [...]

April 1: Student newspaper at North Carolina puts a full-page editorial on today’s page one

The Daily Tar Heel — the independent student paper at the University of North Carolina — cleared off page one today for an editorial asking for reform of how sexual assault cases are handled on campus. Click for a larger view. Design and graphics editor Kevin Uhrmacher tells me: I designed with page with visual managing editor Allie Russell. Design [...]

March 27: Colorado State student paper celebrates a local tradition of craft beer

Greg Mees, editor-in-chief of the Rocky Mountain Collegian at Colorado State University, writes to tell us of a giant cross-platform project his team launched this week. The topic is one very dear to me: Beer. Greg must have known it’d get my attention. He writes: This is a seven-month project that we launched yesterday following a pilot fresh-hop brew for [...]

March 19: Long Beach State student paper uses a wrap to celebrate a big… loss?

I’ve seen newspapers build a double-page wrap around an entire edition to celebrate a fabulous win by a local sports team. But have you seen one build a wrap when the local club loses? You have now. Meet Monday’s Daily 49er, the student paper at Long Beach State University. Click that for a much larger view. I just love wraps. [...]

March 11: High-end fashion pages by a college newspaper

Greg Mees — editor-in-chief of the Rocky Mountain Collegian at Colorado State University — proudly writes: I wanted to pass along [Friday's] weekender cover and center spread. Here’s the cover… …and here’s the center spread. Please click on either of those for a much larger look. Greg tells us: Designer Corinne Winthrop did both the cover and spread while I [...]

Feb. 25: An extraordinary first-person documentary by a college journalist-turned-unwed mother

Even when I’m on the road in west Texas, the most extraordinary things drop into my e-mail basket. Sam Lane, managing editor of the Daily Iowan – the student newspaper at the University of Iowa — writes: I wanted to reach out today regarding a special project we just completed at The Daily Iowan. One of our photographers, Callie Mitchell, [...]

Feb. 23: UNC’s Daily Tar Heel celebrates its 20th year of independence with a wrap

Kevin Uhrmacher, design and graphics editor of the Daily Tar Heel — the student paper at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill — sends along a giant page that wrapped around Friday’s paper celebrating the paper’s 20th year of being financially independent from the university. Click these pages for a much larger look. Kevin tells us: This project [...]

Feb. 22: Behind the Indiana Daily Student newspaper’s retro-looking banner headline front page

Michael Auslen, editor-in-chief of the student paper at Indiana University — the Indiana Daily Student — writes: I wanted to alert you to the front page of [today's] Indiana Daily Student, which was designed by design chief Lacey Hoopengardner and former art director Matt Callahan. Click for a much larger view. Michael tells us: We devoted above the fold to [...]

Feb. 19: ‘Picky’ Fort Collins Coloradoan seeks two summer interns

My good pal Josh Awtry — editor of the Coloradoan of Fort Collins, Colo. — announced today he’s seeking two paid summer interns. Each position works 30 hours a week. Meaning you’ll have plenty of time to enjoy the gorgeous mountain hiking and driving. Or just to sleep. Whatever turns you on. Each position lasts for 10 weeks. Each position [...]

Feb. 13: Possibly the most perfect headline in the history of SEO

Speaking of the Daily Tar Heel, the student paper at the University of North Carolina — and we were, earlier this afternoon — the Daily Tar Heel web folks today published what may very well be one of the greatest headlines in the history of Search Engine Optimization. The story: On the eve of the big Duke vs. North Carolina [...]

Feb. 13: Behind that swirl of numbers on the front of today’s Daily Tar Heel

Regarding my earlier post about my disappointment with today’s front pages, I tweeted: University of North Carolina instructor Erica Perel — who also happens to be the faculty adviser to the student newspaper there, the Daily Tar Heel — replied: Sure enough, today’s front is funky, different, and fun. The topic: the huge North Carolina vs. Duke basketball game tonight. [...]

Jan. 25: One cool college tab cover, please, with pepperoni, mushrooms and extra cheese…

Submitted for your approval: The cover of today’s Weekender edition of the Rocky Mountain Collegian, the student paper at Colorado State University. Click that for a larger view. But first, lay a paper towel or something over your keyboard. Collegian editor-in-chief Greg Mees — fresh off of his extended internship at the Boston Globe – tells us: The cover really [...]

Jan. 23: Penn State student paper revisits Joe Paterno’s legacy

Tuesday was the one-year anniversary of the death of longtime Penn State football coach Joe Paterno. The student newspaper there, the Daily Collegian, devoted its sports front yesterday to a piece that put the Paterno legacy into the kind of perspective that only time can provide. The real reason I’m showing the page to you, however, is the wonderfully understated [...]

Jan. 17: Interesting all-text centerpiece by the Indiana Daily Student (7)

While student papers around the country are dealing with the topic of sexual assaults and how officials deal with them, the Indiana Daily Student found an interesting angle that seemed a bit different. In Indiana, it seems, sexual assault isn’t legally defined as “rape” unless it involves members of the opposite sex. Obviously, the archaic legal language needs to be [...]

Jan. 16: 2012 college grad, already laid off once, lands new job at a tiny daily

2012 college graduate Zack McDermott had worked in his first journalism job — as a copy editor for the Times-News of Erie, Pa. — for less than six months when he was laid off. Welcome to the business, kid. Technically, Zack tells us, he was an intern. The label was in name only, as I did copy editing and page [...]

Jan. 14: N.C. State student paper celebrates big hoops win with wrap-around cover

The big news on the campus of North Carolina State University this weekend: The Wolfpack stunned the No. 1-ranked — and previously undefeated — Duke Blue Devils in basketball Saturday afternoon. For those of you who don’t follow ACC basketball: It’s been a long, long time since State has done something of this magnitude on the basketball court. Duke is [...]

Jan. 3: Another bold move by the Daily Emerald: Replace its home page for a day-and-a-half (1)

You might recall from my Monday night post how the Daily Emerald — the student paper at the University of Oregon — set out to “redefine how college journalists cover football” with their coverage of tonight’s Fiesta Bowl. Another piece of that effort fell into place this afternoon when the digital-first, print-only-twice-a-week paper pushed its normal home page to the [...]

Dec. 31, 2012: ‘Our goal is to redefine how college journalists cover football’

Andy Rossback — editor in chief of the Emerald, the student newspaper at the University of Oregon, which went digital-first earlier this year year — is aiming high this year. He tells us: Our goal is to redefine how college journalists cover football. It started back on Dec. 5 with our bowl preview section, which had an exclusive interview with Oregon [...]

Dec. 7, 2012: One way to deal with an embarrassing page-one display text error (2)

Allison Sylte — editor-in-chief of the Rocky Mountain Collegian, the student paper at Colorado State University — wrote us overnight: I’ve been taking over for Greg Mees while he’s been working his co-op at the Boston Globe. I read your blog pretty regularly, and my favorite feature is your look at places that need a copy editor. That’s why I [...]

Nov. 27, 2012: How Indiana’s student paper played tonight’s IU vs. UNC basketball game (2)

Stephanie Kuzydym — a reporter for the Oklahoman of Oklahoma City and a graduate of Indiana University — tweets tonight: Today’s Indiana Daily Student is wrapped with this cover. Click for a larger view: The page was designed by IDS art director Matthew Callahan, I’m told. The reference to “Dakich” is, in fact, the No. 11 shown in that vintage, [...]