The Booze News
Encyclopedia
The Booze News is a satirical newspaper founded at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
in February 2004 by Atish Doshi and Derek Chin. The free paper, published weekly with a circulation of 20,000, is written, edited and distributed by students at UIUC. Currently, The Booze News is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and continues to exist under The Black Sheep .
. In 2006, The Booze News expanded further, and began distribution at three more schools, The University of Wisconsin in Madison
, The University of Iowa in Iowa City, Indiana University
in Bloomington, Indiana
, University of Florida
in Gainsville, FL, University of Georgia
in Athens, GA and the University of Missouri
in Columbia, Missouri
. (The University of Wisconsin, Indiana University and University of Missouri issues are no longer in print.) In 2008 the parent company of The Booze News was dissolved. "The Booze News" remained for two years and now operates as "The Black Sheep.".
and a sex-themed column, "Sex in the C-U".
In addition to the weekly articles, The Booze News runs a rotating series of alcohol
reviews, CD reviews, bartender interviews, drinking game
s, class-time games and celebrity interviews.
, but co-founder Atish Doshi notes that "The paper is not for eight-year olds," and "The students love it."
In October 2008 The Booze News came under popular scrutiny for an article in its University of Missouri edition. The article in question was "Judging A Book By Its Cover". The writer of the controversial article published a fictional interpretation of the plot of a childrens book. Previous books used to for the "Judging a Book By Its Cover" series include, Elmo Pops In, The Box Car Children, The Hardy Boys, and The Little Engine That Could. Some of the older town's people were offended by the content. The incident garnered national attention from news media outlets such as CNN
, Fox News and the Los Angeles Times
.T
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...
in February 2004 by Atish Doshi and Derek Chin. The free paper, published weekly with a circulation of 20,000, is written, edited and distributed by students at UIUC. Currently, The Booze News is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and continues to exist under The Black Sheep .
Origins and expansion
According to co-founder Derek Chin, The Booze News was founded as a twelve-page paper in 2004. With innovative and controversial content the paper's popularity quickly grew among the University of Illinois student base, and as that popularity was further realized by the local advertisers, the paper expanded to twenty pages.The first campus expansion took place in 2005, as The Booze News began publishing a twelve-page issue at Illinois State UniversityIllinois State University
Illinois State University , founded in 1857, is the oldest public university in Illinois; it is located in the town of Normal. ISU is considered a "national university" that grants a variety of doctoral degrees and strongly emphasizes research; it is also recognized as one of the top ten largest...
. In 2006, The Booze News expanded further, and began distribution at three more schools, The University of Wisconsin in Madison
Madison
- Place names :* Madison, Wisconsin, the largest city by the name and the state capital of Wisconsin* Madison, Alabama* Madison, Arkansas* Madison, California* Madison, Connecticut* Madison, Florida* Madison, Georgia* Madison, Illinois* Madison, Indiana...
, The University of Iowa in Iowa City, Indiana University
Indiana University
Indiana University is a multi-campus public university system in the state of Indiana, United States. Indiana University has a combined student body of more than 100,000 students, including approximately 42,000 students enrolled at the Indiana University Bloomington campus and approximately 37,000...
in Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the southern region of the U.S. state of Indiana. The population was 80,405 at the 2010 census....
, University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
in Gainsville, FL, University of Georgia
University of Georgia
The University of Georgia is a public research university located in Athens, Georgia, United States. Founded in 1785, it is the oldest and largest of the state's institutions of higher learning and is one of multiple schools to claim the title of the oldest public university in the United States...
in Athens, GA and the University of Missouri
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri System is a state university system providing centralized administration for four universities, a health care system, an extension program, five research and technology parks, and a publishing press. More than 64,000 students are currently enrolled at its four campuses...
in Columbia, Missouri
Columbia, Missouri
Columbia is the fifth-largest city in Missouri, and the largest city in Mid-Missouri. With a population of 108,500 as of the 2010 Census, it is the principal municipality of the Columbia Metropolitan Area, a region of 164,283 residents. The city serves as the county seat of Boone County and as the...
. (The University of Wisconsin, Indiana University and University of Missouri issues are no longer in print.) In 2008 the parent company of The Booze News was dissolved. "The Booze News" remained for two years and now operates as "The Black Sheep.".
Weekly content
Each week the student-writers at The Booze News produce several comedic articles that poke fun at life as a college students. Often the content consists of many one-shot satirical articles that comment on current campus occurrences, as well as one or two recurring columns that anchor weekly readership. For example, Volume 13, issue 3, published on September 10, 2008, led with a one-shot article parodying a hoax email sent out by UIUC Chancellor Richard Herman, and contained two regular columns, a fake interview with UIUC football coach Ron ZookRon Zook
Ron Zook is a former American football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at the University of Florida from 2002 to 2004 and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 2005 to 2011. Zook is a native of Ohio and an alumnus of Miami University, where he...
and a sex-themed column, "Sex in the C-U".
In addition to the weekly articles, The Booze News runs a rotating series of alcohol
Alcoholic beverage
An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...
reviews, CD reviews, bartender interviews, drinking game
Drinking game
Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages. These games vary widely in scope and complexity, although the purpose of most is to become intoxicated as quickly as possible...
s, class-time games and celebrity interviews.
Target Audience
The target audience is the social student body on each campus. Writers are allowed to push the outer boundaries of their social exploration. Students have had a mixed reaction but readers in the target audience consistently support the paper. Based on student comments, you cannot understand the paper without being a current student. All of the writers are local, so there are a lot of inside jokes/references that the average adult would be oblivious to.Controversy
The Booze News often garners criticism for promoting underage drinking and binge drinkingBinge drinking
Binge drinking or heavy episodic drinking is the modern epithet for drinking alcoholic beverages with the primary intention of becoming intoxicated by heavy consumption of alcohol over a short period of time. It is a kind of purposeful drinking style that is popular in several countries worldwide,...
, but co-founder Atish Doshi notes that "The paper is not for eight-year olds," and "The students love it."
In October 2008 The Booze News came under popular scrutiny for an article in its University of Missouri edition. The article in question was "Judging A Book By Its Cover". The writer of the controversial article published a fictional interpretation of the plot of a childrens book. Previous books used to for the "Judging a Book By Its Cover" series include, Elmo Pops In, The Box Car Children, The Hardy Boys, and The Little Engine That Could. Some of the older town's people were offended by the content. The incident garnered national attention from news media outlets such as CNN
CNN
Cable News Network is a U.S. cable news channel founded in 1980 by Ted Turner. Upon its launch, CNN was the first channel to provide 24-hour television news coverage, and the first all-news television channel in the United States...
, Fox News and the Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
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