The Commonwealth Times
Encyclopedia
The Commonwealth Times is the twice-weekly independent student newspaper for Virginia Commonwealth University
in Richmond, Virginia
. Almost of all the published Commonwealth Times papers from 1969-present day can be found on the VCU libraries website within the Digital Collections.
beer.
The CT switched from broadsheet
to tabloid in 1976, and later increased its frequency from twice a week to three times a week. Early in the spring 1998 semester, it switched back to twice-weekly (Monday and Thursday).
The offices moved in 1988 to what was then the brand-new General Purpose Academic Building at 901 W. Main St. It was renamed the T. Edward Temple Building in 1998.
The paper's payroll and office supplies come from its advertising revenue, while student activity fees pay for printing. In the mid-2000s, the CT's computers were finally updated and the paper became fully paginated and started using color photographs. Prior to that, staff members had used outdated Macintosh
computers, most of which had been acquired in the early 1990s
, and still pasted up pages and sized pictures manually.
Also during this time, the CT was known for The Picks, a weekly feature during the football season, usually on the back page. It included mugshots of staff members, along with their picks for upcoming NFL games and records so far in the season. Below that was a narrative, normally written by the sports editor, that commented on the staff members' progress in The Picks and used double entendres and plain-old raunch to describe them and their personalities. The Picks drew the fire of university administration for years, and was eventually eliminated in the early 2000s.
The CT is now based in VCU's Student Media Center, 817 W. Broad St., Richmond. In 2008 the paper received a national first-place award from the Society of Professional Journalists for its breaking-news coverage of the massacre at Virginia Tech as well as a number of awards from the Virginia Press Association.
Virginia Commonwealth University
Virginia Commonwealth University is a public university located in Richmond, Virginia. It comprises two campuses in the Downtown Richmond area, the product of a merger between the Richmond Professional Institute and the Medical College of Virginia in 1968...
in Richmond, Virginia
Richmond, Virginia
Richmond is the capital of the Commonwealth of Virginia, in the United States. It is an independent city and not part of any county. Richmond is the center of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area and the Greater Richmond area...
. Almost of all the published Commonwealth Times papers from 1969-present day can be found on the VCU libraries website within the Digital Collections.
History
The CT, as it is known, was founded in September 1969, and became independent from the School of Mass Communications the next year. During its first decade, it had its headquarters in a historic house on West Franklin Street and ran ads for products including BudweiserBudweiser
Budweiser is a German adjective describing something or someone from the city of České Budějovice in Southern Bohemia, Czech Republic.Beer brewing in České Budějovice dates back to the 13th century...
beer.
The CT switched from broadsheet
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
to tabloid in 1976, and later increased its frequency from twice a week to three times a week. Early in the spring 1998 semester, it switched back to twice-weekly (Monday and Thursday).
The offices moved in 1988 to what was then the brand-new General Purpose Academic Building at 901 W. Main St. It was renamed the T. Edward Temple Building in 1998.
The paper's payroll and office supplies come from its advertising revenue, while student activity fees pay for printing. In the mid-2000s, the CT's computers were finally updated and the paper became fully paginated and started using color photographs. Prior to that, staff members had used outdated Macintosh
Macintosh
The Macintosh , or Mac, is a series of several lines of personal computers designed, developed, and marketed by Apple Inc. The first Macintosh was introduced by Apple's then-chairman Steve Jobs on January 24, 1984; it was the first commercially successful personal computer to feature a mouse and a...
computers, most of which had been acquired in the early 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
, and still pasted up pages and sized pictures manually.
Also during this time, the CT was known for The Picks, a weekly feature during the football season, usually on the back page. It included mugshots of staff members, along with their picks for upcoming NFL games and records so far in the season. Below that was a narrative, normally written by the sports editor, that commented on the staff members' progress in The Picks and used double entendres and plain-old raunch to describe them and their personalities. The Picks drew the fire of university administration for years, and was eventually eliminated in the early 2000s.
The CT is now based in VCU's Student Media Center, 817 W. Broad St., Richmond. In 2008 the paper received a national first-place award from the Society of Professional Journalists for its breaking-news coverage of the massacre at Virginia Tech as well as a number of awards from the Virginia Press Association.
External links
- Commonwealth Times -- official site
- Commonwealth Times from the collection of the VCU Libraries
- Fan Free Funnies: three comic issues (Feb., April, and Summer 1973) published by the Commonwealth Times, from the collection of the VCU Libraries