I hope I look this good when I turn 125 years old.
To celebrate The Daily Collegian’s quasquicentennial, we’re trying on mom’s high heels and pearls, so to speak. Our look today is a nod to the semi-weekly Penn State Collegian of the 1920s, the predecessor of The Daily Collegian.
Your student newspaper has evolved quite a bit since The Free Lance hit stands on April 18, 1887. The beauty of a daily newspaper was always that tomorrow offered new opportunities. We didn’t have to wait longer than 24 hours to upgrade our product. Now, in a 24-hour news cycle, journalists literally can improve by the second.
For the next 125 years, the Collegian will constantly change, adapt and hopefully surpass industry standards, because this is the best way we can serve you, our readers.And while 125 years of change have made the Collegian the award-winning daily newspaper that it is today, what hasn’t changed can’t be overlooked either.
I’d wager that The Free Lance newsroom was much like that of your Daily Collegian — filled with endearing, yet neurotic, nocturnal and over-caffeinated students who can’t remember the last time they ate or thought an oxford comma was kosher. We continue to cover every student government meeting and campus event with zeal, so our staff is ready if a national story rocks Penn State, much like it did this year. Our students’ fundamental beliefs in the core principles of ethical journalism — truth, fairness and public service — ever endure.
We know it’s Thursday and you might be looking for Mounting Nittany.
Based on the current situation and mood at Penn State, we have decided to remove the column for now.
We also wanted to use this opportunity to explain why the column has been absent for the past two weeks of publication.
During the week of Monday, Nov. 7, the opinion page evolved as quickly as the story surrounding the scandal at Penn State, often by the second. Mounting Nittany would have run
Nov. 10 — the issue that chronicled the removal of former Penn State President Graham Spanier and former football coach Joe Paterno.
Instead, the Collegian ran three opinion pages that day: a full-page editorial and two filled with letters to the editor, reflecting the influx of community input.
The following week, Kristina Helfer decided that based on the tone of her previous columns it would not have been “respectful to those who have been affected by sexual assault” to write the column on the scandal or sexual assault.
1887 was an exciting year at Penn State. Not only did the football program kick off (with a team that went 2-0), but The Daily Collegian’s predecessor, The Free Lance, hit newsstands.
To better serve you, our readers, and to celebrate our 125th birthday, we will be making some improvements to your Collegian this year.
First, you probably noticed the line of text across the top of page one: “1887 Celebrating 125 Years 2012.” This will become a mainstay of your 2011-12 Collegian.
We’ve also given a facelift to the Collegian’s website: collegian.psu.edu. We’re going for a more sleek, professional look, as well as making it more user-friendly.
As the year progresses, please let us know what you think about the Collegian’s upgrades. I promise, there are many more exciting ones to come.
125 years later, so much has changed at Penn State — but one thing hasn’t: The Daily Collegian, your Daily Collegian, is here to serve you.
We’re here to bring you the most relevant, up-to-the-second news that will impact your life. Pick up the paper everyday. Find and interact with us on Facebook and @dailycollegian.
The Daily Collegian is seeking a web intern to join its award-winning web team for the fall 2011 semester. This position offers a merit-based $1,000 scholarship per semester.
Following the launch of our new website in fall 2010, The Daily Collegian is looking for a web intern to be tasked with designing and developing interactive elements to accompany news stories, as well as stand alone projects.
Possibilities include timelines, interactive maps and other game-like interfaces that enhance news articles. Examples of previous interactives that have been developed by The Daily Collegian’s staff members include a Penn State budget simulator, the THON 2011 timeline and news feed, and an interactive review of local pizza places.
The web intern will be tasked with designing these interactive components. You will be publishing content with your by-line on the Collegian website.
This real-world work experience will provide you with an excellent portfolio and networking opportunities.
Applicants should have a working knowledge of HTML and CSS, some experience with Javascript or Flash, and an interest in emerging web technologies, like HTML5.
The web intern will work with the web editor, as well as the newsroom at large. Editors will approach you with ideas and may pair you with reporters to develop online elements for stories, though we encourage you to suggest and develop original content as well.
This position requires a flexible but steady time commitment. Your responsibilities will vary based on your skills, but could include designing pages and/or interactive pieces for our site or communicating with public APIs (Twitter, Tumblr, etc.).
Students from any major are encouraged to apply. An interest in journalism and being a part of an independent student newspaper is highly encouraged, as well.
To apply, send a resume and cover letter to Editor in Chief LexiBelculfine at [email protected] before Aug. 18, 2011. Interviews will be held during the first week of classes.
Please direct any questions about the position to our current web staff: Web Editor Paige Minemyer ([email protected]) or Web Developer Andrew Metcalf ([email protected]).
Summer is the perfect time to try out new things. New books, new hobbies, a new relationship, perhaps?
For us at The Daily Collegian, we see this time of year as an opportunity to test new things, too.
And since you picked up today’s paper, you get a sneak peak into one of the Collegian’s newest ventures: QR codes.
Yup, those bizarre mosaic-looking squares that you scan with your beloved smart phone are being integrated into the stone-aged newspaper.
Shocking, I know.
If you turn to page eight of this paper, you’ll find two QR, or Quick Response, codes on the bottom right side of the page.
All you have to do is download a QR reader for your smart phone (if you haven’t already) and scan the barcode with your phone.
The QR codes in today’s paper will take you to videos that the Collegian’s Multimedia and Photo Chief Kelley King shot during this weekend’s Arts Festival.
We’ve never tried this before, so I’m going to cross my fingers and hope that it works and that you like this addition to the Collegian.
Please tell us what you think. Write a letter to the editor, or tweet at us.
My vision is that now, in addition to killing time between classes by reading articles and doing the crossword puzzle, you can just as easily access the Collegian’s multimedia and so-called web-only content. Right now, you have the paper in your hands and, I’m sure, your phone within arm’s reach.
This could very well be the future of the Collegian: a multi-platform approach to story telling.
Hopefully, the QR code translates into newsprint well, and I am even more hopeful that this is just one more way that we can better serve you, our readers.
The Daily Collegian wants you. Yes, that's right - you - the one reading this right now.
We want you to join our award-winning staff, and from 2-4 p.m. today at the Collegian office you can have a shot at it by trying out for a reporting position.
Ever thought about what it would be like to stay up for more than 46 hours at THON, telling the story of cancer survivors and dancers to hundreds of thousands? What about meeting Air Force One at the airport? Maybe you've dreamt about interviewing the Goo Goo Dolls or Passion Pit.
And let's be honest. You're a Penn Stater. Who hasn't wondered what Beaver Stadium looks like from the press box?
By joining the Collegian, these things could become a very real part of your life, and I'm confident you would become a better journalist, person even, because of them.
Joining The Daily Collegian was the best decision I made at Penn State - and I think you would have the same experience in the basement of the James Building, where we produce The Daily Collegian.
The beauty of working for a daily newspaper in the 21st century is that the sky really is the limit. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. At the Collegian, you can do as much (or as little) as you want and can go as far as you would like.
Want to try designing pages, maintaining a website and social media, or shooting video?
You can do all of that here.
Beyond the real-world education you'd get while at the Collegian, when you don your cap and gown, having worked at the Collegian gives you that little something extra.
We've had alumni at the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, USAToday, law and medical schools and PR firms.
But even beyond the great experiences, limitless opportunities and resume building, you will find a family at the Collegian.
My roommate? Met her on the first day of candidate class during my freshman year.
My best friends? 95 percent of them are the ones who I have stayed up with until 6 a.m., not partying, but covering the celebration after Osama bin Laden had been killed or working on THON coverage.
So this might not be an iconic war poster, but the message is the there: The Daily Collegian wants you to try out. Today.
Tonight was supposed to be a quiet night for The Daily Collegian.
Our final daily newspaper of the spring semester hit stands Friday. We had wished our senior class farewell earlier Sunday at our annual senior picnic.
And then Twitter exploded, as I'm sure it did for many of you did. Reports were coming in from far and wide: Osama bin Laden was dead.
My reporters and I didn't even get the chance to watch President Obama's address. Managing Editor Casey McDermott and reporter Anna Orso headed to the HUB-Robeson Center. I literally ran to Beaver Canyon, dialing every reporter and photographer that was still in State College. You can't imagine my surprise when I got to Beaver Canyon -- sidewalks filled with people -- only to see reporter Zach Geiger on his second-floor Cedarbrook balcony. He was in the streets with me, notebook and pen in hand, within minutes. Within fifteen minutes, we were joined by a small band of reporters and photographers.
Geiger's apartment would become our newsroom for the night. We updated our website from two laptops and various smart phones. I linked @dailycollegian to my Droid and maneuvered through the masses trying to bring our followers on Twitter right into the action. Meanwhile, our reporters and photographers were doing the same. From our second-floor station, I watched photographer Pete Tesoriero photograph a small fire revelers had set in the street and reporter Audrey Snyder taking film on her flip cam. Reporters came in and out of the apartment all night to update the website with photos, print stories and videos.
At 1:30 a.m. I got a call from The Daily Collegian's office. Good Morning America had called, hoping to use our footage on this morning's 7 to 9 a.m. broadcast. Eventually, we all headed back to our basement office to assemble the homepage you can view now.
So why am I telling you this?
More than anything, I think tonight really exemplified how committed The Daily Collegian is to being a news source, not just a newspaper. We had an entire staff of reporters and photographers out in the streets tonight knowing that we didn't have a 16-page newspaper to fill tomorrow. Everything would run online.
And no one could have asked for more.
All that we wanted tonight, was to provide you with the best and most comprehensive coverage of the celebration in Beaver Canyon. I couldn't be more pleased with our coverage, and I genuinely hope you feel the same.
The opinion page is expanding. For the rest of the semester, most of page 7 will feature two of our graduating seniors’ final thoughts on leaving Penn State and their posts at The Daily Collegian.
They’ll write about their time studying late at the library, frantically writing that way-over-deadline story and they’ll write about what it’s meant to be a Penn State student who balances life both in and outside of the James Building, our Collegian home.
Today, we are featuring one of our graphic designers and one of our general assignment photographers. Check out what Katie Moore learned after being rejected by her dream internship at Lucas Films. Asit Mishra has some interesting ideas on how to handle Penn State’s recent budget crisis.
Some of our staff members’ most important college experiences have occurred right here in our office, others have happened from across the globe. At the end of the day, all of the graduating seniors share a common bond through what they’ve learned here.
--Ashley Gold (Opinion Page Editor) and Elizabeth Murphy
It's award season, and The Daily Collegian is happy to announce that we are on the top of many of those lists.
Getting ground down by the day-to-day routine, you can forget the importance and quality of the work you are doing. These awards are a nice reminder that calling sources and pounding out stories isn't just all that we do.
Here is a report on all the awards The Daily Collegian and our staff members have racked up in the past couple of months. Great job, everyone.
(NOTE: All stories are linked. Please feel free to click through and see our staff's award-winning work.)
P.S. We had quite a few current and former staff members snag some awards through Penn State's College of Communications, as well. Kudos to Lexi Belculfine, Chloe Elmer, Mike Felletter, Matt Fortuna and Mandy Hofmockel!
Editor's Note: This is the fifth part in a regular podcast series about the story behind the story. I will interview reporters, photographers and editors so readers can find out just how much time it took to write that 1,000-word story or shoot that dynamic photo. This week, I spoke with the Collegian's investigative reporter and online manager, Laura Nichols. She traveled to Harrisburg last week for Tom Corbett's inauguration, covering the speech and the large group of protestors making their presence known in the process. Listen in as she speaks about standing on press row outside the Capitol Building last week.
