Broadside (newspaper)

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March 26, 2007 edition, front page, top fold

Broadside is the name of the student newspaper of George Mason University.

1 History
2 Today
3 Awards
4 Editors-in-Chief
5 Notable Alumni of Broadside
6 External Links

[edit] History

Broadside, George Mason University's official student newspaper, began its life as The Gunston Ledger. The Gunston Ledger, whose first issue appeared on the then George Mason College campus located in Bailey's Crossroads, VA on October 15, 1963, was an eight-page monthly printed on 12 inch by 9 inch paper. Its staff of twelve students included a photograph editor, Richard Sparks, who contributed two to four photos to each issue. The content consisted of campus news, features on GMC faculty and students, engagement and wedding notices, and some commentary.

The Ledger became the Broadside on October 28, 1969. It was noted in that issue that the name change was part of an effort to remake the paper into more of a news instrument like the early publications of the nation's revolutionary fathers. The Broadside was a weekly paper which contained sixteen or more pages in each issue. Photography in the Broadside was mostly limited to campus events and personalities.

The Broadside began printing in a broadsheet format in 1982 (12 inch by 24 inch), but moved to a tabloid format in 1986 (printed on 12 inch by 12 inch paper). The Broadside changed sizes again in the Fall of 1992 when it began being produced in a new tabloid format (11 inch by 17 inch). During that same year the newspaper began publishing twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. The newspaper again underwent a change in format in the Fall of 2000 when the Editor-in-Chief, Jimmie Foster, Jr switched it back to a broadsheet (printed on 11.5 inch by 22 inch paper). Broadside remained a twice weekly publication until the Fall of 2004 when it returned to a weekly publication. Broadside also began publishing its news on the internet in the Fall of 1996.

Throughout the decades Broadside's masthead has undergone almost a yearly transformation. Several designed mastheads have lasted several years, but the longest tenured masthead was created by production editor Clayton Tompkins in 2000. The green and gold masthead, that consisted of the name Broadside in gold with a green stripe with the word's "George Mason University's Student Newspaper" typed in white and a green outline of the university's Johnson Center in a rising gold sun, was the longest tenured masthead in the publications history. It was used for nine consecutive semesters from the Fall of 2000 through the Fall of 2004.

[edit] Today

Today the content of the publication is news that is local, national, and international in scope with campus news taking the a majority of print space. Articles are presented in four different sections; news, style, opinion and sports. In Spring 2007, the online version of the newspaper was redesigned after years of neglect. A new service entitled "Exchange" launched online to serve the community and is often compared to Craiglist. Photography for each issue is provided by digital cameras. The Broadside uses staff photographers and major wire service outlets for its photographs. Almost all of its articles are written by student reporters. Today the newspaper is generated via computer and is still published in its 2000 format. There are more than 70 students and staff members involved in its production.

[edit] Awards

Broadside has won several national awards throughout its history. In 2000 its website won a Associated Collegiate Press "Honorable Mention Award" and in the Spring of 2002, student photographer David Manning won the Associated Collegiate Press "Photograph of the Year Award" for his shot of the World Bank protests in Washington, DC. In 2001 Broadside was named by the Princeton Review as the ninth best student newspaper in the non-daily category.