The Daily Californian

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The Daily Californian (or Daily Cal) is an independent, student-run newspaper that serves the University of California, Berkeley campus and its surrounding community. It is published Monday through Friday (but not Wednesday, owing to dwindling ad revenues) during the academic year, and twice a week during the summer. Established in 1871, The Daily Californian is one of the oldest newspapers on the West Coast, and one of the oldest college newspapers in the United States. Current circulation is about 10,000 for a campus of roughly 30,000.[1]

History

The Daily Californian became independent from UC Berkeley in 1971 after the campus administration fired three senior editors over an editorial that encouraged readers to "take back" People's Park. Both sides came to an agreement, and The Daily Californian gained financial and editorial independence from the university and is now published by an independent corporation called the Independent Berkeley Students Publishing Company, Inc. The paper licenses its name from the Regents of the University of California. UC Davis, originally being the University Farm for Berkeley also started their own newspaper, The California Aggie.

In the fall of 1971, The Daily Californian moved to a second floor office on the corner of Telegraph Avenue and Channing Way in Berkeley. The Daily Californian moved to two other offices, one on Shattuck Square and on Dwight Way. These moves, while necessary for the financial success of the newspaper, began to erode the student foundation that ran the newspaper. The newspaper currently resides in the 6th floor of Eshleman Hall on the UC Berkeley campus.

On November 24, 1982, three days after the November 20th Big Game (now known for The Play), early morning readers of the Daily Cal were chagrined to find in the headline of the front page: "NCAA Awards Big Game to Stanford."[2] Hundreds of copies of the Daily Cal with this fake headline had been strewn about campus in the wee hours. This was in fact a hoax perpetrated by aggrieved Stanford fans.

File:Daily Cal plastic rack.JPG
A Daily Cal rack on the UC Berkeley campus

A newspaper run completely by students worked very well, but financial and management problems dampened the first decade of The Daily Californian's independence. In the early 1980s, The Daily Californian was forced to take on loans, including one from UC Berkeley's student government, the Associated Students of the University of California (ASUC).

In the early 1990s, hard times and a series of financial mismanagements forced the newspaper to only publish three days a week, which made national news. With the great support of then Chancellor Chang-Lin Tien, The Daily Californian secured a new office in the 6th floor of Eshleman Hall on the south side of campus. This office space had also housed the newspaper from 1963 to 1971. It was during the early 1990s that The Daily Californian also began to tap its growing group of proud and successful alumni. The Daily Californian Alumni Association was founded.

The Daily Californian has a history of publishing spirited editorials, and in some cases editions containing controversial editorials have been subjected to newspaper theft. In 2002, Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates agreed to pay restitution after admitting to having thrown away a thousand copies of The Daily Californian after it endorsed his opponent, then-Mayor Shirley Dean.[3] In May 2003, nearly 5,000 papers were stolen by students protesting coverage of the arrest of a Cal football player. The largest act of theft took place in November 1996 when the paper's senior editorial board endorsed Proposition 209.[1] Nearly 23,000 papers were stolen on Election Day 1996,[2] and in the following days copies of the paper were tossed off the balcony of the newspaper's office and burned in effigy.

On October 16, 2006, the Daily Cal launched its first blog, The Daily Clog. The Clog is a student-life blog that accumulates various tidbits about Berkeley and college life. It focuses on the UC campus, the city of Berkeley and Berkeley's online community. That year, the Daily Cal also recorded its first podcast and began text polling. Since then, The Daily Californian has added eight new blogs on topics ranging from Travel to an Editors' Blog.

On August 25, 2008, the Daily Cal announced that it would not print a paper version of the newspaper on Wednesdays amidst a decline in advertising revenues and higher newspaper costs. However, it will have an online version of the paper on Wednesdays.[4][5]

The Daily Californian is an affiliate of UWIRE,[3] which distributes and promotes its content to their network.

The Daily Californian Alumni Association

More than 400 former The Daily Californian staffers have joined The Daily Californian Alumni Association (DCAA) since its resurrection in August 1996. A unit of The Daily Californian Education Foundation, the DCAA exists to bring alumni of the newspaper together as well as to provide mentorship and financial support to the current student staff. The DCAA is one the largest and most active alumni associations of any college newspaper. A chartered club of the California Alumni Association, the Daily Californian Alumni Association holds regular reunions and receptions across the country. Alumni are established and leading journalists in such news organizations as The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times, People magazine, The Arizona Republic, The San Francisco Chronicle, Sports Illustrated, NBC News, USA Today and The Washington Post.

Membership is open to all former staff members of The Daily Californian or student publications office staff (pre 1971). Reunions are held every October during homecoming weekend on the Berkeley campus and offer a chance for alums to mingle and trade stories with students on the current staff.

Current Senior Editorial Board

The Senior Editorial Board encompasses all the section editors as well as the development editor. The following is the Senior Editorial Board membership for spring 2012:

Tomer Ovadia, Editor in Chief and President
Leslie Toy, Managing Editor
Kevin Foote, Photo Editor
Fiona Hannigan, Blog Editor
Soumya Karlamangla, City News Editor
Jonathan Kuperberg, Sports Editor
J.D. Morris, University News Editor
Nick Myers, Opinion Editor
Elaine Ou, Night Editor
Aaida Samad, Development Editor
Emily Smith, Design Editor
Nastia Voynovskaya, Arts & Entertainment Editor
Cecilia Wong, Multimedia Editor

Awards

The Daily Californian consistently receives numerous awards on a regional and national level for its comprehensive and innovative coverage of UC Berkeley, the city of Berkeley and the entire University of California system.

  • 2010-11

California College Media Association


1st Place - Daily Cal Twitter, Best Use of Social Media
1st Place - The Daily Clog, Best Blog
1st Place - Sam Stander, Best Arts & Entertainment Story
1st Place - David Liu, Best Arts & Entertainment Column/Criticism
2nd Place - The Daily Californian, General Excellence
2nd Place - dailycal.org, General Website Excellence
2nd Place - The Daily Californian, Best Overall Design
2nd Place - Jack Wang, Best Sports Story
2nd Place - Hayley Hosman, Best Arts & Entertainment Column/Criticism
2nd Place - Senior Editorial Board, Best Editorial
3rd Place - Ed Yevelev, Best Cartoon
3rd Place - Zach E.J. Williams, Best News Series
3rd Place - Javier Panzar, Best News Story (Non-Breaking)
3rd Place - Jessie Tseng, Best Sports Page Design
3rd Place - Jessie Tseng, Best Feature Page Design
3rd Place - Brian Liyanto, Best Headline Portfolio

  • 2009-10

California College Media Association


1st Place - The Daily Clog, Best Blog
1st Place - Ed Yevelev, Best Cartoon
1st Place - Lara Brucker, Best Photo Illustration
1st Place - Javier Panzar, Best Feature Story
1st Place - Maggie Owens, Best Arts Column
1st Place - Jessie Tseng, Best Sports Page Design
1st Place - Liz Cunningham, Best Infographic
1st Place - Matt Kawahara, Best Sports Story
1st Place - Victoria Chow, Nick Fradkin and Nathan Yan, Best Photo Series
2nd Place - David Herschorn, Best Sports Photo
2nd Place - Anna Hiatt, Best Feature Photo
2nd Place - The Daily Clog, Best Use of Social Media
2nd Place - Jimmy Tran, Best Sports Story
2nd Place - Matt Kawahara, Best Sports Column
2nd Place - Hannah Jewell, Best Arts Column
2nd Place - Zach A. Williams, Best Breaking News
3rd Place - The Daily Californian, Best Use of Social Media
3rd Place - Tomer Ovadia, Best News Series
3rd Place - Arielle Grant, Best Headline Portfolio
3rd Place - Katherine Maslyn, Best Sports Design

  • 2007-08

Society of Professional Journalists
Region 11 Mark of Excellence Awards
1st place - Editorial Writing - Victoria Tang
1st place - Sports Columns - Jon Doss
3rd place - Best Daily Student Newspaper

Associated Collegiate Press
1st place - Best in Show, Newspaper Web site, Washington, DC
2nd place - Best in Show, Newspaper Web site, San Diego
2nd place - Best in Show, Interactive Multimedia Element, San Diego
3rd place - Best in Show, 4-year Daily Newspaper, San Diego

UWIRE Top 100 Student Journalists
Christine Borden
Stephanie M. Lee

California College Media Association
1st place, Online General Excellence
1st place, Special Issue
1st place, News Feature
1st place, Arts and Entertainment Column
1st place, Sports Column
1st place, News Photo
1st place, Sports Page Design
1st place, Feature Page Design
1st place, Headline Portfolio
1st place, Best Cartoon
2nd place, General Excellence
2nd place, Overall Design
2nd place, Best Special Section
2nd place, Editorial
2nd place, Personal Opinion
2nd place, Arts and Entertainment Review
2nd place, Sports Column
2nd place, Feature Photo
2nd place, Feature Page Design
2nd place, Headline Portfolio
2nd place, Best Cartoon=
3rd place, Arts and Entertainment Review
3rd place, Arts and Entertainment Column
3rd place, Sports Story
3rd place, Sports Column
3rd place, News Photo
3rd place, Sports Photo
3rd place, Headline Portfolio
3rd place, Best Cartoon
3rd place, Breaking News Online

  • 2007-08

Associated Collegiate Press
National Pacemaker, Finalist: The Daily Californian staff
Newspaper Web site, First Place: www.dailycal.org
Editorial Writing, First Place: Alia Salim
Photo Excellence - Environmental Portrai, Second Place: Alan Wong
Photo Excellence - Spot News, Honorable Mention: Jessica Kuo

  • 2006-07

Society of Professional Journalists
1st Place, Sports Column Writing
2nd Place, Online Sports Reporting
3rd Place, In-Depth Reporting
3rd Place, Editorial Writing
3rd Place, Best Affiliated Website: "The Daily Clog"

California College Media Association
1st Place, Special Section
1st Place, Arts & Entertainment Review
1st Place, Headline Portfolio (Dailies)
1st Place, Sports-Page Design (Dailies)
1st Place, News-Page Design (Dailies)
1st Place, Cartoon (Dailies)
1st Place, Sports Photo (Dailies)
2nd Place, Illustration (Dailies)
2nd Place, Headline Portfolio (Dailies)
3rd Place, Best Cartoon (Dailies)
3rd Place, Breaking News Online: "The Daily Clog"
3rd Place, Cartoon (Dailies)
Honorable Mention, Photo Illustration (Dailies)
Honorable Mention, Features Photo (Dailies)

Associated Collegiate Press
1st Place - Best of Show, Spring 2007 Workshop (Four-year Dailies)

Notable alumni

See also

References

External links

Template:UC Berkeley Student Life Template:Student Newspapers of the Pacific-12 Conference