The Daily Tar Heel
Encyclopedia
The Daily Tar Heel is the independent student newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
. It was founded on February 23, 1893, and became a daily newspaper in 1929. The paper places a focus on university news and sports, but it also includes heavy coverage of Orange County
and North Carolina
. It is published five days a week during the school year and weekly during the university's two summer school sessions. All editorial content is overseen by student editors and a volunteer student staff of about 150 people. It is the largest news organization in Orange County
.
, Carrboro, and Durham
. Its estimated print readership of 38,000 makes it the largest community newspaper in Orange County. Revenues from advertising are self-generated through a student-run advertising staff.
The student journalists are solely responsible for all content under the direction of the student editor-in-chief. The 2011-12 editor is Steven Norton. A new editor is selected each spring and serves for one year. The editor is the public face of the paper and hires the rest of the editorial staff, which includes a managing editor and editors for each of the newsroom's sections desk.
The paper employs seven full-time professionals, about 75 paid part-time students, and more than 150 student volunteer writers. The student editor has full control over the editorial content of the paper. Business matters are overseen by a full-time, professional general manager, Kevin Schwartz; a board of directors serves as publisher and has final say over matters such as the newspaper's budget. The current president of the board is Bronson Brim.
By 1920, the paper's size had increased to 6 pages, and under editor Thomas Wolfe
the paper moved to a twice-a-week format in September 1920. In 1923, it came out from under the auspices of the athletic association and became governed by the Student Publications Union Board, which at the time was in charge of all campus publications. Students paid a fee of $5.50 to fund the publications. Publication increased to three days in 1925 and published the first summer edition in 1927. The student body voted in favor of increasing funding to the DTH in 1929 in a vote of 666 to 128. The vote enabled the paper, then led by editor Walter Spearman, to publish six times a week. The paper changed its name to The Daily Tar Heel.
In 1943, the paper scaled back publication to twice weekly. In 1946, The Daily Tar Heel returned to daily publication with the goal of becoming, in the words of student editors, "the greatest college newspaper in the world."
The famous broadcaster Charles Kuralt
, who was DTH editor in 1954, wrote in his book A Life on the Road of being called "a pawn of the Communists" on the floor of the state legislature after the newspaper published a spoof edition critical of Sen. Joseph McCarthy
. The state legislature formed a committee in 1955 to "investigate quality and circulation problems at the DTH."
In 1989, the DTH incorporated as a separate educational 501(c)(3) non-profit entity. The paper voluntarily stopped taking student fee money in 1993, making it completely financially independent from the University for the first time. That allowed the DTH to begin its current process of allowing a 11-member committee of staffers and community members to select the next editor. Previously, the position had been filled in campuswide elections. Peter Wallsten was the last DTH editor selected by campuswide elections.
After 1,500 copies of the Carolina Review were stolen in 1996, the DTH fought for access to the accused students' Honor Court hearings. The state Supreme Court's 1998 ruling established the Honor Court as a public body.
The paper published a column in 2005 by student Jillian Bandes that supported the racial profiling of Arabs at airports — a piece that began with the line, "I want all Arabs to be stripped naked and cavity-searched if they get within 100 yards of an airport.". The column made national headlines and ultimately led to the columnist's dismissal, but officially only for her quoting a source in a manner considered out-of-context. A few months later, in the midst of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
, it published a cartoon depicting the Prophet appearing to decry both sides in the debate. Both pieces sparked loud debate on campus. The cartoon was a popular local-news item and prompted a few dozen protesters to stage sit-ins in the DTH newsroom.
During the summer of 2010, the newsroom moved out of the student union and into a 6489 square feet (602.8 m²) office a block away from campus, at 151 E. Rosemary Street. The move doubled the amount of office space available to staff and placed the paper one-tenth of a mile away from its original 1893 office. Previously, the staff worked out of the Frank Porter Graham Student Union and paid rent to the University.
In October 2010, The Daily Tar Heel joined a coalition of eight media organizations in a lawsuit against UNC for public records. The lawsuit concerns records related to UNC's investigation into alleged improper relationships with athletic agents and academic misconduct surrounding the football team.
The DTH has a long-standing bet with editors of The Chronicle (Duke University)
. When the two schools' men's basketball teams play, the losing school's paper must run its masthead in the other school's color. The losing school's paper must also place the winning school's logo on their editorial page and declare the winning school is "still the best."
for excellence in college journalism. In 2005 the newspaper won Pacemakers for its 2004-05 print and online editions. Most recently, the DTH won the Pacemaker award for 2007-08. The paper also has won numerous Mark of Excellence awards from the Society of Professional Journalists
, and its advertising and business staff is often recognized as the best in the country by College Newspaper Business and Advertising Managers, Inc.
The DTH staff also wins awards in competitions against professional newspapers in North Carolina. Since 2001, the newspaper has won more than a half-dozen awards from the North Carolina Press Association for its photography, newswriting, and design. It has also won more than two dozen first-place advertising awards in its division, which comprises paid dailies with circulations between 15,000 and 34,999. Twice in the last five years the newspaper has placed third in the state in its coverage of higher education—ahead of professional newspapers in education-rich areas such as Charlotte
and Greensboro
.
In February 2011, the paper was awarded the second place NCPA general excellence award for its division, becoming the first college paper in the state to earn a general excellence award. The paper also placed first in the state for its higher education coverage.
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is a public research university located in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States...
. It was founded on February 23, 1893, and became a daily newspaper in 1929. The paper places a focus on university news and sports, but it also includes heavy coverage of Orange County
Orange County, North Carolina
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 133,801. Its county seat is Hillsborough...
and North Carolina
North Carolina
North Carolina is a state located in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties. Its capital is Raleigh, and its largest city is Charlotte...
. It is published five days a week during the school year and weekly during the university's two summer school sessions. All editorial content is overseen by student editors and a volunteer student staff of about 150 people. It is the largest news organization in Orange County
Orange County, North Carolina
Orange County is a county located in the U.S. state of North Carolina. As of the 2010 census, the population was 133,801. Its county seat is Hillsborough...
.
History
The Daily Tar Heel circulates 18,000 free copies to more than 200 distribution locations throughout campus and in the surrounding community -- Chapel HillChapel Hill, North Carolina
Chapel Hill is a town in Orange County, North Carolina, United States and the home of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and UNC Health Care...
, Carrboro, and Durham
Durham, North Carolina
Durham is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the county seat of Durham County and also extends into Wake County. It is the fifth-largest city in the state, and the 85th-largest in the United States by population, with 228,330 residents as of the 2010 United States census...
. Its estimated print readership of 38,000 makes it the largest community newspaper in Orange County. Revenues from advertising are self-generated through a student-run advertising staff.
The student journalists are solely responsible for all content under the direction of the student editor-in-chief. The 2011-12 editor is Steven Norton. A new editor is selected each spring and serves for one year. The editor is the public face of the paper and hires the rest of the editorial staff, which includes a managing editor and editors for each of the newsroom's sections desk.
The paper employs seven full-time professionals, about 75 paid part-time students, and more than 150 student volunteer writers. The student editor has full control over the editorial content of the paper. Business matters are overseen by a full-time, professional general manager, Kevin Schwartz; a board of directors serves as publisher and has final say over matters such as the newspaper's budget. The current president of the board is Bronson Brim.
Early history
The newspaper was first published on February 23, 1893 as a four-page weekly tabloid called The Tar Heel. It aimed to promote "the thorough discussion of all points pertaining to the advancement and growth of the University." Funded by the campus athletic association, it placed much of its emphasis on campus sports and Greek life and boasted of 250 subscribers.By 1920, the paper's size had increased to 6 pages, and under editor Thomas Wolfe
Thomas Wolfe
Thomas Clayton Wolfe was a major American novelist of the early 20th century.Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels, plus many short stories, dramatic works and novellas. He is known for mixing highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing...
the paper moved to a twice-a-week format in September 1920. In 1923, it came out from under the auspices of the athletic association and became governed by the Student Publications Union Board, which at the time was in charge of all campus publications. Students paid a fee of $5.50 to fund the publications. Publication increased to three days in 1925 and published the first summer edition in 1927. The student body voted in favor of increasing funding to the DTH in 1929 in a vote of 666 to 128. The vote enabled the paper, then led by editor Walter Spearman, to publish six times a week. The paper changed its name to The Daily Tar Heel.
In 1943, the paper scaled back publication to twice weekly. In 1946, The Daily Tar Heel returned to daily publication with the goal of becoming, in the words of student editors, "the greatest college newspaper in the world."
The famous broadcaster Charles Kuralt
Charles Kuralt
Charles Kuralt was an American journalist. He was most widely known for his long career with CBS, first for his "On the Road" segments on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, and later as the first anchor of CBS News Sunday Morning, a position he held for fifteen years.Kuralt's "On the Road"...
, who was DTH editor in 1954, wrote in his book A Life on the Road of being called "a pawn of the Communists" on the floor of the state legislature after the newspaper published a spoof edition critical of Sen. Joseph McCarthy
Joseph McCarthy
Joseph Raymond "Joe" McCarthy was an American politician who served as a Republican U.S. Senator from the state of Wisconsin from 1947 until his death in 1957...
. The state legislature formed a committee in 1955 to "investigate quality and circulation problems at the DTH."
Independence
In the 1970s and 1980s, student editors used the paper's front-page quote to agitate many on campus; selections included Nietzsche's "God is dead." The paper's use of student fees was called into question in July 1972, when four students filed suit against the paper. The students objected to the use of student fees used to publish articles they did not agree with. The DTH collected donations to pay for its legal defense, and ultimately won an assurance of at least 16 percent of all student fees in 1977. An independent publishing board was also established, though the paper's budget remained tied to the Student Congress for yearly approval.In 1989, the DTH incorporated as a separate educational 501(c)(3) non-profit entity. The paper voluntarily stopped taking student fee money in 1993, making it completely financially independent from the University for the first time. That allowed the DTH to begin its current process of allowing a 11-member committee of staffers and community members to select the next editor. Previously, the position had been filled in campuswide elections. Peter Wallsten was the last DTH editor selected by campuswide elections.
Recent years
On November 19, 1994, the DTH became one of the first newspapers of any kind to publish an online edition.After 1,500 copies of the Carolina Review were stolen in 1996, the DTH fought for access to the accused students' Honor Court hearings. The state Supreme Court's 1998 ruling established the Honor Court as a public body.
The paper published a column in 2005 by student Jillian Bandes that supported the racial profiling of Arabs at airports — a piece that began with the line, "I want all Arabs to be stripped naked and cavity-searched if they get within 100 yards of an airport.". The column made national headlines and ultimately led to the columnist's dismissal, but officially only for her quoting a source in a manner considered out-of-context. A few months later, in the midst of the Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy
The Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy began after 12 editorial cartoons, most of which depicted the Islamic prophet Muhammad, were published in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten on 30 September 2005...
, it published a cartoon depicting the Prophet appearing to decry both sides in the debate. Both pieces sparked loud debate on campus. The cartoon was a popular local-news item and prompted a few dozen protesters to stage sit-ins in the DTH newsroom.
During the summer of 2010, the newsroom moved out of the student union and into a 6489 square feet (602.8 m²) office a block away from campus, at 151 E. Rosemary Street. The move doubled the amount of office space available to staff and placed the paper one-tenth of a mile away from its original 1893 office. Previously, the staff worked out of the Frank Porter Graham Student Union and paid rent to the University.
In October 2010, The Daily Tar Heel joined a coalition of eight media organizations in a lawsuit against UNC for public records. The lawsuit concerns records related to UNC's investigation into alleged improper relationships with athletic agents and academic misconduct surrounding the football team.
The DTH has a long-standing bet with editors of The Chronicle (Duke University)
The Chronicle (Duke University)
The Chronicle is a daily student newspaper at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. The Chronicle was first published as The Trinity Chronicle on December 19, 1905. The paper's name was changed to The Chronicle when Trinity College was renamed Duke University following a donation by James...
. When the two schools' men's basketball teams play, the losing school's paper must run its masthead in the other school's color. The losing school's paper must also place the winning school's logo on their editorial page and declare the winning school is "still the best."
Accolades and awards
The DTH is frequently recognized as one of the best college newspapers in the country, named the best college newspaper by The Princeton Review in 2007 and 2010. The Associated Collegiate Press, for example, regularly rewards it with National Pacemaker AwardsNational Pacemaker Awards
The National Pacemaker Awards are awards for excellence in American student journalism, given annually since 1927. The awards are generally considered to be the highest national honors in their field, and are unofficially known as the "Pulitzer Prizes of student journalism."The National Scholastic...
for excellence in college journalism. In 2005 the newspaper won Pacemakers for its 2004-05 print and online editions. Most recently, the DTH won the Pacemaker award for 2007-08. The paper also has won numerous Mark of Excellence awards from the Society of Professional Journalists
Society of Professional Journalists
The Society of Professional Journalists , formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is one of the oldest organizations representing journalists in the United States. It was established in April 1909 at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn. The ten founding members of...
, and its advertising and business staff is often recognized as the best in the country by College Newspaper Business and Advertising Managers, Inc.
The DTH staff also wins awards in competitions against professional newspapers in North Carolina. Since 2001, the newspaper has won more than a half-dozen awards from the North Carolina Press Association for its photography, newswriting, and design. It has also won more than two dozen first-place advertising awards in its division, which comprises paid dailies with circulations between 15,000 and 34,999. Twice in the last five years the newspaper has placed third in the state in its coverage of higher education—ahead of professional newspapers in education-rich areas such as Charlotte
Charlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
and Greensboro
Greensboro, North Carolina
Greensboro is a city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. It is the third-largest city by population in North Carolina and the largest city in Guilford County and the surrounding Piedmont Triad metropolitan region. According to the 2010 U.S...
.
In February 2011, the paper was awarded the second place NCPA general excellence award for its division, becoming the first college paper in the state to earn a general excellence award. The paper also placed first in the state for its higher education coverage.
Notable alumni
- Thanassis Cambanis, author of A Privilege to Die, and The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reporter - Cole Campbell, former St. Louis Post-DispatchSt. Louis Post-DispatchThe St. Louis Post-Dispatch is the major city-wide newspaper in St. Louis, Missouri. Although written to serve Greater St. Louis, the Post-Dispatch is one of the largest newspapers in the Midwestern United States, and is available and read as far west as Kansas City, Missouri, as far south as...
editor - W. Horace CarterW. Horace CarterWalter Horace Carter was an American newspaper publisher in Tabor City, North Carolina who won a Pulitzer Prize in 1953 for his reporting on the activities of the Ku Klux Klan and his editorials opposing it. Filmmaker Walt Campbell is making a documentary about Carter tentatively titled,...
, Pulitzer Prize winner for his reporting on the Ku Klux Klan - Jonathan W. DanielsJonathan W. DanielsJonathan Worth Daniels was an American author, editor, and White House Press Secretary. Daniels' term serving as White House Press Secretary was the shortest since the inception of the position in 1937. He held the position in 1945 under Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman...
, author and White House Press Secretary for Franklin D. RooseveltFranklin D. RooseveltFranklin Delano Roosevelt , also known by his initials, FDR, was the 32nd President of the United States and a central figure in world events during the mid-20th century, leading the United States during a time of worldwide economic crisis and world war...
and Harry S. TrumanHarry S. TrumanHarry S. Truman was the 33rd President of the United States . As President Franklin D. Roosevelt's third vice president and the 34th Vice President of the United States , he succeeded to the presidency on April 12, 1945, when President Roosevelt died less than three months after beginning his... - Cate Doty, The New York TimesThe New York TimesThe New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
- Mark Dubowski, former Forbes Magazine sales manager; Editorial Cartoonist, The Chapel Hill News; internationally-published writer of books for young readers
- Will Fonvielle, film critic/blogger
- Peter GammonsPeter GammonsPeter Gammons is an American sportswriter, media personality, and a recipient of the J. G. Taylor Spink Award for outstanding baseball writing, given by the BBWAA.-Education:...
, ESPNESPNEntertainment and Sports Programming Network, commonly known as ESPN, is an American global cable television network focusing on sports-related programming including live and pre-taped event telecasts, sports talk shows, and other original programming....
sportswriter and broadcaster - Louis HarrisLouis HarrisLouis Harris is an American opinion polling entrepreneur, journalist, and author. He ran one of the best-known polling organizations of his time, Louis Harris and Associates, which conducted the Harris Poll.-Life and career:...
, journalist who established the Harris Poll - Charles Hauser, reporter and editor at newspapers in North Carolina, Virginia and Rhode Island.
- Mary Junck, president, CEO and chairman of Lee EnterprisesLee EnterprisesLee Enterprises is a publicly traded American media company. It publishes 54 daily newspapers in 23 states, and more than 300 weekly, classified, and specialty publications. Lee Enterprises was founded in 1890 by A.W. Lee and is based in Davenport, Iowa....
, which publishes 54 daily newspapers - Karen Jurgensen, former USA TodayUSA TodayUSA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
editor - Wayne King, Pulitzer Prize winner, Detroit Free Press and former writer for the New York Times
- Charles KuraltCharles KuraltCharles Kuralt was an American journalist. He was most widely known for his long career with CBS, first for his "On the Road" segments on The CBS Evening News with Walter Cronkite, and later as the first anchor of CBS News Sunday Morning, a position he held for fifteen years.Kuralt's "On the Road"...
, award-winning CBSCBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is a major US commercial broadcasting television network, which started as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System. The network is sometimes referred to as the "Eye Network" in reference to the shape of...
journalist and author - Alan Murray, deputy managing editor and executive editor, online, for The Wall Street Journal
- Rolfe Neill publisher of The Charlotte Observer and The Charlotte News
- Rob NelsonRob Nelson (reporter)Rob Nelson is currently co-anchor of the overnight news programs World News Now and America This Morning on ABC, joining Vinita Nair on July 12, 2010, then co-anchoring with Peggy Bunker February 21, 2011 to July 22, 2011...
, co-anchor of ABC's World News Now and America This Morning - Reed Sarratt, director of the Southern Newspaper Publishers' Association
- John McNeill Smith, Jr., a prominent Civil Rights lawyer who helped defeat the North Carolina Speaker BanNorth Carolina Speaker BanOn June 26, 1963, the North Carolina General Assembly passed the Act to Regulate Visiting Speakers, later known as the Speaker Ban Law. The law forbade anyone to speak on a University of North Carolina campus who was a known member of the Communist Party, or who was known to advocate overthrow of...
- Walter Spearman, long-time UNC journalism professor
- Hugh Stevens, press lawyer credited with strengthening North Carolina's open meetings and public records laws.
- Robyn TomlinRobyn TomlinRobyn Tomlin is an American journalist who is the executive editor for the The Star-News in Wilmington, North Carolina.She is a 1996 graduate of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill . She worked as a reporter for The North Hills News Record and the Asheville Citizen-Times...
, executive editor of the Star-News in Wilmington, North Carolina - Jim Wallace, Curator/Director Photographic Services, Smithsonian Institution
- Peter Wallsten, Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesThe 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....
national correspondent - Thomas WolfeThomas WolfeThomas Clayton Wolfe was a major American novelist of the early 20th century.Wolfe wrote four lengthy novels, plus many short stories, dramatic works and novellas. He is known for mixing highly original, poetic, rhapsodic, and impressionistic prose with autobiographical writing...
, novelist and playwright - Jonathan YardleyJonathan YardleyJonathan Yardley is a book critic at The Washington Post, and at one time of the Washington Star. In 1981 he received the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.-Background and education:...
, Washington Post book columnist - Edwin YoderEdwin YoderEdwin Milton Yoder is an American journalist and Pulitzer Prize winner.-Life:Yoder was educated at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in English in 1956. He then won a Rhodes Scholarship to Jesus College, Oxford, and studied PPE from 1956 to 1958...
, syndicated columnist and Pulitzer PrizePulitzer PrizeThe Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
winner - John Drescher, executive editor of The News and Observer in Raleigh, N.C.