| The Fairfield Mirror | ||||||
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| Type | College newspaper | |||||
| Editor(s) | Thomas Cleary | |||||
| Advisor(s) | James Simon, Ph.D. | |||||
| Location | Fairfield, Connecticut | |||||
| Founded | 1977 | |||||
| Mock edition(s) | The Morron | |||||
| Owner | The Fairfield Mirror, Inc. | |||||
| Frequency | Weekly | |||||
| Circulation | 3,500 | |||||
| Format | Berliner | |||||
| Printer | Turley Publications | |||||
| Mailing address | Box AA 1073 North Benson Road BCC Room 104 Fairfield, CT 06430 |
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| Website: www.fairfieldmirror.com | ||||||
The Fairfield Mirror (or The Mirror) is the student newspaper of Fairfield University in Fairfield, Connecticut. It is financially and editorially independent of the University, and publishes weekly on Wednesday during the academic year with additional issues during commencement and orientation. The Mirror staff has won numerous Excellence in Journalism Awards from the Connecticut Society of Professional Journalists.
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The students of Fairfield University founded and published the first edition of The Mirror in 1977. The newspaper was founded after the merging of two prior publications: one produced under the supervision of the University (The Voice), and one published independently (The Free Press and Review). , The genesis of the change to The Mirror, was Ned Barnett. who as Editor-in-Chief of "The Voice", was one of the driving forces to create an independent newspaper. In addition, the University was seeking to limit its liability from the publication of a student-run media outlet.
The Mirror's first Editor-in-Chief was Robert M. "Doc" Dougherty, who was responsible for the editorial content, and Frank Godfrey, the Business Manager, who was responsible for the paper's finances and operations as an independent, incorporated entity. The paper was printed by Stratford Printing, and delivered weekly to campus dorms, classroom buildings, and the Campus Center.
The online edition was founded in 2000, and it was the first partner to have a signed contract with the now ubiquitous College Publisher network of online student newspapers.
The Mirror incorporated full-process color in the print edition for the first time in the early '00s.
Dr. James Simon has been the adviser of The Mirror since 1998.
In 1984, Editor in Chief Thomas Moore saved the newspaper from a threatened permanent cancellation stemming from an April Fool's prank that offended many on campus. The item, published in what was at that time the annual lampoon edition called "The Morron," sarcastically alleged that a female member of the board of trustees had solicited students in Jogues Hall (then called Northwest). It had been inserted by an editor, apparently with no other staff members having approved its inclusion prior to publication. When the administration reacted by canceling its subscription to The Mirror newly-appointed EIC Thomas Moore submitted a letter to the administration promising better oversight for the paper and outlining definitive protocols in an effort to prevent another misstep. The Mirror's subscription was restored and the practices established by Moore continue to this day, as every successive Editor in Chief must agree to the terms of the letter by means of a signed contract with the student affairs division.
In 2009 a controversy erupted over the recurring humorous columns He Said/She Said, which typically offer a male and female perspective on some issue. The October 1 2009 issue's columns focused on best practices for conducting one night stands and the walk of shame at Fairfield. The columns (especially the "He Said" column by student Chris Surette) resulted in immediate controversy among students and administrators.[1] There was a sit-in protest of students at the Mirror's campus offices, and public rebukes from the University president and from dean of students Thomas Pellegrino. Pellegrino informed The Mirror was that they had violated the ethical guidelines in the paper's funding agreement with the University, and that this funding agreement was "null and void". Later, a group of students sought disciplinary action against The Mirror claiming the offensive content in the "He Said" column had violated the school's harassment policy.
In its first issue of 2010 the Mirror announced that the He Said/She Said column would be discontinued.[2]
Over the years, The Mirror has landed interviews with many well-known entertainers, politicians, celebrities, and other notable figures in American pop-culture. More recently, they include...
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The Mirror is distributed at Fairfield University on Thursdays during the fall and spring semesters. While the print circulation is limited to 3,500 copies, tens of thousands of alumni, parents, and other members of the university community read the Web edition on a regular basis.
Since 2005, The Mirror has been printed weekly by Turley Publications of Palmer, MA, a boutique printing press serving local and college newspapers.
The Mirror is an affiliate of UWIRE,[6] which distributes and promotes its content to their network.
Weekly Routine
The Mirror staff meets weekly on Thursdays at 6pm in the office to discuss the week's issue and to plan stories for the following week.
Until October 2007, The Mirror had been produced (completion of all copy editing, layout, and pre-press processing) on Tuesday nights beginning around 5pm and concluding as late as 6am Wednesday morning, the printer's deadline for timely delivery. That month, having found difficulty completing the pages on time due to unprecedentedly large page counts, the staff split production between Monday and Tuesday nights. Managing editors mandated that section editors complete 90% of their pages before leaving on Monday, leaving only last minute photos and deadline stories for addition on Tuesday nights.
When the staff finishes the paper on Tuesday night/Wednesday morning, the Editor in Chief transmits the page files via File Transfer Protocol to the printing press more than 100 miles away in Palmer, MA.
Pages are burned onto plates almost immediately and the press run of 4,000 lasts for about a half hour. The finished papers are delivered to the Barone Campus Center loading dock by noon on Wednesday, sometimes less than six hours after file transmission.
| Technical Specs | |
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| Layout & Design | Adobe Indesign CS3 |
| Photo Editing | Adobe Photoshop CS3 |
| Computing Platform | Mac OS X |
| Page Size | 11" x 17" (since Jan '07) |
| Color | Full Process on two plates (8 pages of full color, in layman's terms) |
| Advertising | 30-40% of page count |
| Average Page Count | 24 |
| Name | Position |
|---|---|
| Mikaela Tierney | Editor in Chief |
| Gabriella Tutino | Executive Editor |
| Charlotte Adinolfi | Managing Editor |
| Elizabeth Koubek | News Editor |
| Loan Le | Entertainment Editor |
| Martin O'Sullivan | Opinion Editor |
| 'Eric Bernsen | Sports Editor |
| Thomas McKiver | Photo Editor |
| Name | Year |
|---|---|
| Peter Caty | 2010-2011 |
| Thomas Cleary | 2009-2010 |
| Alexandra Gross | 2008-2009 |
| Steph Lauto | 2007-2008 |
| Ryan Blair | Fall 2006 |
| Tara E. Lynch | 2005-2006 |
| Steven M. Andrews | 2004-2005 |
| Ethan Fry | 2003-2004 |
| Sean Hayes | 2002-2003 |
| Frank Washkuch | 2001-2002 |
| Paul Pennelli | 2000-2001 |
| Karen Affinito | 1999-2000 |
| Theresa Vitello | 1998-1999 |
| Lynn Casey | 1989-1990 |
| Bob Schumm | 1979-1980 |
| R.M. Dougherty | 1978-1979 |
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