The Daily Texan

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The December 5, 2005 front page of The Daily Texan.
Type	Daily newspaper
Format	Broadsheet

Owner	The University of Texas
Publisher	Texas Student Publications
Editor	JJ Hermes
Founded	1900
Political allegiance	Neutral
Headquarters	Austin, Texas, USA

Website: The Daily Texan

The Daily Texan is the student newspaper of The University of Texas at Austin. It is entirely student-run and independent from the university. It is one of the largest college newspapers in the United States with a daily circulation of roughly 30,000 during the fall and spring semesters, and bills itself as the oldest student newspaper in the South. The Texan has won more national, regional and state awards than any other college newspaper in America, and counts 10 Pulitzer Prize winners among its former staff.

The Texan's origins date back to 1900, when two privately owned weekly newspapers were distributed on campus — the Calendar and the Ranger. In 1904 the two papers were taken over by the student council and merged. In 1913, the student body voted to publish the paper each weekday, and the Daily Texan was born on September 14, 1913.

A number of comic strips that began in the Texan went on to have commercial success. The most notable of these is Berke Breathed's Academia Waltz, the predecessor to Bloom County. Hepcats by Martin Wagner and Eyebeam by Sam Hurt also found continued success after their creators had left the University of Texas.

1 Awards
2 Staff
3 Notable staff alumni
4 References
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] Awards

The Texan has won many prestigious awards, including the Associated Collegiate Press' "Pacemaker Award" in 1965, 1969, 1971 and 1985, and the Columbia Scholastic Press' Gold Crown Award in 1984, 1985, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1997, 2005 and 2006.

[edit] Staff

Most of the staff positions are paid and the top two positions offer a stipend that covers a bit less than nine hours of paid in-state tuition and fee scholarships. Historically, the position of editor of The Daily Texan has been elected. The logic of an elected editor historically has been based on the newspaper's having been founded and owned by students and then given over to the student body. More recently, it has been argued that because students were compelled to fund the paper through the payment of mandatory student service fees, they should have some say in the paper's overall direction. In addition, the elected editor has been seen as a way to protect the paper from institutional censorship from the university. Since the student body selects the editor of the paper, this ensures that the university administration cannot install an editor sympathetic to its views and thereby control the content of the newspaper.

In modern times, editorial candidates have been screened by the Texas Student Publications Board (TSP Board), an entity with faculty, student, and newspaper industry representatives. The TSP Board publishes a handbook which sets forth the requirements an editorial candidate must meet before his or her name may be placed on the ballot. The board has been resistant to the idea of an elected editor and has made several attempts to convert the position to an appointed one. The TSP Board currently appoints the managing editor, who oversees the daily operation of the paper while the elected editor generally stewards the editorial page. However, the elected editor retains a final say over the content of the newspaper.

[edit] Notable staff alumni

[edit] References

Copp, Tara, and Rogers, Robert L. The Daily Texan: The First 100 Years – Copp, Tara; Rogers, Robert L. (Eakin Press 1999, ISBN 1-57168-302-X). The book's authors were both former Texan editors. Copp stewarded the publication during the 1996-1997 academic year, while Rogers immediately preceded her during the 1995-1996 academic year. Their book began as a Plan II Honors thesis project for both of the former editors. Rogers wrote his thesis on the first 50 years of the Texan, while Copp covered the second 50 for hers. The combined manuscript was published as a book in 1999.