The Daily Targum
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Daily Targum | |
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| Type | Daily student newspaper |
| Format | Tabloid |
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| Owner | |
| Publisher | Targum Publishing Company |
| Editor | Catherine E. Galioto-Snipe |
| Founded | 1869 |
| Headquarters | 126 College Ave. Suite 431 New Brunswick, NJ 08901 |
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| Website: http://www.dailytargum.com | |
The Daily Targum is the official student newspaper of Rutgers University, the State University of New Jersey. In its current form, it exists as a bi-fold tabloid-style paper featuring international, national, local, and university news, as well as editorials, columns, comics, classifieds, sports, and other amusements. The paper boasts a circulation of 17,000.
The Daily Targum is published Monday through Friday while classes are in session, in New Brunswick, New Jersey. Founded in 1869, it is one of the oldest collegiate newspapers in the United States. In 1980, the paper achieved independence from the University, establishing a non-profit organization, the Targum Publishing Company, which now oversees all areas of the paper. The Daily Targum is student written and managed.
In 2006, publishing of The Newark Targum began, serving the Rutgers-Newark campus.
Contents |
[edit] Regular Sections
University: Beginning on page three every day, the general news around the University appears here.
Metro: Though the metro section's content varies widely year to year, the coverage typically focuses on how the city of New Brunswick (and on occasion Piscataway or Highland Park) is affecting students.
Opinions: Editorials, a daily columnist, letters to the editor and a cartoon generally round out the Opinions pages of the Targum.
Diversions: The most popular section of the paper, the Daily Targum subscribes to several syndicates, offering readers a wide variety of cartoons from Doonesbury to Bizarro. For those interested in games, there is a crossword, word jumble, sudoku and wonderword every day. Several student comics can also be found in the Diversions section, including the popular Liquid Kids Classics.
Classifieds: Typically 1-2 pages, anyone looking to sell just about anything to the Rutgers community can place traditional classified ads here.
Sports: The back page of the newspaper chronicles the ups and downs of Division I athletics at the University.
[edit] Features
[edit] inside beat
Every Thursday, the Targum includes a section dedicated to current movies, events, DVD releases and more. inside beat has its own editorial board, which except for its editor and associate editor, is largely independent of the Daily Targum.
[edit] Mugrat
Each semester, the Daily Targum publishes a spoof, titled the Daily Mugrat ("Targum" spelled backwards). The spoof paper preys on unsuspecting students, often appearing as a normal issue but with outlandish or provocative content. The Mugrat tradition dates as far back as 1927, when the paper claimed a professor had been arrested for animal cruelty.
[edit] Targum Timeline
1866: Then Rutgers President William H. Campbell lectures to Rutgers men on the original text of the Old Testament, including Aramaic language paraphrases of the Hebrew Scriptures, called Targums. The word "Targum" means interpretation in Aramaic and is used as a slang word when referring to crib sheets, among various Aramaic terms that become part of the campus vernacular. This is the inspiration for the name of the forthcoming periodical.
1867: The Targum first appears as a four-page publication, the forerunner of the Scarlet Letter Yearbook.
1869: On Jan. 29 the Targum begins publishing as a monthly newspaper and literary magazine. It includes campus news, poetry, humor and essays on literature, science, philosophy, religion and travel. This same year Rutgers hosts the first intercollegiate football game with Princeton University, which Rutgers wins (and the Targum dutifully reports), 6-4.
1880: The Targum begins printing once every three weeks.
1891: The Targum becomes a weekly publication.
1919: The format changes from an 8 1/2" by 11" format to an 11" by 17" tabloid size.
1927: The first spoof issue of the Targum, the Mugrat, is printed. The issue reports that a Rutgers professor has been held in the county jail, charged with cruelty to animals.
1954: The Targum is printed four times a week.
1956: The newspaper becomes a daily publication, printing five days a week.
1978: The Targum staff strikes after demands for honoraria are not met.
1980: The Targum Publishing Company files its papers of incorporation on July 1, 1980, following a year of negotiations with the University and an arduously fought battle to pass the student vote for funding. Students now fund the Targum directly through a refundable fee on their term bills.
1982: Typewriters are discarded as the first computers enter the Targum's newsroom.
1996: The Targum goes online.
1998: In January of this year, the Targum begins using full color on the front and back pages on a daily basis.
2002: The productions staff leaves film behind as the newspaper begins fully electronic publication.
2006: The first issue of The Newark Targum is launched on February 15, 2006.
Source: Celebrating 25 Years of Independence, by Theresa Poulson. pgs. 6-7. May 2005.
[edit] Referendum
In order to secure student funding for the Daily Targum, the newspaper is required to hold a referendum every three years. Since 1980 ,the Daily Targum has been required to receive "yes" votes from 25% of the students at each college in order to receive funding from all the students in that college. The last referendum was held in 2004.
[edit] Comparison to other Rutgers student newspapers
The Daily Targum is the largest student paper at Rutgers and has several counterparts. The Green Print, the campus paper for Cook College, also covers general news as well as environmental issues. The Rutgers Centurion is the monthly conservative magazine. The Caellian is the Progressive paper of Douglass College, which features artistic submissions and LGBT issues. The BVCL (Black Voice Carte Latina) is the paper of the black / hispanic student body, but is not affiliated with a college as such. The Medium is the entertainment weekly of Rutgers and is affiliated with Livingston College.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- The Daily Targum (Official Site)
- The Newark Targum
- "Birth of an alumni association and an independent Targum" Jdlasica.com
