Iowa State Daily
From Rofflehaus
Iowa State's student daily newspaper est 1880.
Contents |
[edit] The Facts
Location: Hamilton Hall
Circulation: About 14,000, M-F
Employs about 200 students and several full-time professionals. The Daily is one of few student-run papers nationwide that pays its writers. It is also one of the largest registered student organizations; its current advisor is Mark Witherspoon.
Writers are paid $1 per column inch. Editors are paid approximately $25 per day, assistants are paid approximately $20. Photographers are paid $10-$15 per photo, depending on whether or not it's on the front page.
The Daily is used as a training ground for journalism students. All students enrolled in JLMC 202 are required to work a beat for the newspaper.
The term "Daily Correspondent" refers to a writer who has not yet written 5 articles. The term "Daily Staff Writer" is the byline for everyone else, even if the Editor-in-Chief writes an article. The exception to this are columnists, who don't actually have a byline, but an attribution at the end of their column.
The Daily has even covered Rofflehaus.
A current list of important staff members can be found here.
[edit] History
[edit] Editors
Current editor: Tom Barton
Past editors:
- Lucas Grundmeier Summer 2004 - Spring 2005
- Nicole Paseka Fall 2003-Spring 2004
- Cavan Reagan Fall 2002-Spring 2003
- Andrea Hauser Fall 2001-Spring 2002
- Carrie Tett Fall 2000-Spring 2001
- Sara Zeigler Fall 1999-Spring 2000
[edit] Awards
The Daily has consistently been considered one of the top 50 college newspapers in America and has won several prestigious general-excellence awards, including a "Gold Crown" from the Columbia Scholastic Association in 2004.
[edit] Controversies
- Ongoing : Liberal bias. The Daily has consistently been accused of leaning to the left. More often than not, its editorial board has more liberal than conservative members, though this charge has been leveled at the Daily even when the balance is shifted. Many think this problem to have been alleviated or even shifted in another direction with the hiring of Aaron Gott as opinion editor.
- Ongoing : Depiction of homosexuality. The Daily has enraged both sides of the homosexuality debate by fronting pictures of gay men kissing. As early as 1998, the Daily published a photo of reverse campaniling, a tradition by the LGBTAA for same-sex couples to kiss under the Campanile. In 2000, the Daily fronted another photo of gay men kissing, causing the same outcry. In 2001, the Daily fronted yet another photo of a homosexual couple kissing. This time, no one sent any letters of protest, perhaps reflecting readers acceptance or apathy towards the subject. The LGBTAA also suspended the reverse campaniling tradition, which was the only surefire way of finding homosexual kisses on the ISU campus. However, in covering a Feb. 15, 2004 LGBTAA conference, the Daily fronted another picture of gay men kissing. This time, it was the gay community that was angry. The Daily defended its decision on the grounds that the photo was powerful, but later made an unprecedented apology for inadvertently portraying the conference as a gay kiss-fest.
- Mar 2004 : Plagiarism. Daniel C. Hartman, an arts and entertainment writer, was found to have plagiarized from multiple reviews written by other newspapers. The resulting investigation found that he had lifted from eight articles and had some other ethical digressions, including pleading guilty to fabricating an ISU degree to get a job.
- Feb 2002 : "Toons" tiff. When three editors posed for a picture and spoof in the local cartoon weekly "Toons," were fired by then editor-in-chief Andrea Hauser for compromising the newspaper's credibility. A massive backlash arose, though the journalism department stood by Hauser's decision and two of the three editors never worked for the Daily again.
[edit] How it works
[edit] Metro and University news
The news particular to Iowa State and Ames is the bread-and-butter of the Daily and the main reason to pick it up instead of the Des Moines Register. Typically, editors will always try to put a local story as centerpiece or above-the-fold (the top half of the front page), unless something huge happens nationwide, like the Sept. 11 attacks or the Columbia shuttle crash. In those cases, the editors will try to front a local reaction/connection story to go along with the main story from the Associated Press (AP).
[edit] Opinion
Arguably the most popular section of the Daily, for its sometimes wacky letters and controversial columnists. The left page of the section (Page 4) is ad-free and consists of the staff editorial, a cartoon and two Daily columnists. The other page will include letters from students, alumni, Ames residents and columns from other college papers found on U-WIRE, a college syndication service.
[edit] Editorial
This reflects the position of the paper on an important issue, though more accurately, it reflects the position of the editor-in-chief, the opinion editor, and two to three other prominent members on staff--typically other columnists or the online-editor. Sometimes, prominent non-staffers have been recruited, such as Drew Miller. Twice a week, this group reluctantly gathers to brainstorm ideas for editorials, come to some kind of majority conclusion, and then dole out who writes what. Trying to come to a majority opinion on issues that not everyone has a strong opinion or knowledge of is typically a point of frustration for edit board meetings. Since editorials reflect the position of the paper, theoretically, the paper's publisher (The Iowa State Daily Publication Board) can veto whatever opinion the board comes up with... but since the group doesn't attend these meetings, that is unlikely to happen.
[edit] FYI
Known as "FYI" as of fall 2006, this section covers local entertainment in the area from local music, music, dance, fashion, and food. CD reviews are grouped together in short summaries. Movie reviews come out most Mondays and on Tuesdays in the summer. Book reviews are sparse. "Amuse" is a section that's exclusively features that runs every week and usually features a specific main story.
[edit] Sports
Focuses on ISU sports and occasionally has the wire story about a national sport.
[edit] Wire
Papers get a pool of national stories to select from--not every paper can be expected to have a reporter in Washington D.C. or Iraq. Also, wire stories are used to fill space if there isn't enough local content.
[edit] Photography
The photo department uses all digital and shoots with Canons.
[edit] How to
Check out the
- See main article: How-to for the Iowa State Daily
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