The Truman State University Index is a weekly student newspaper

Student newspaper

A student newspaper is a newspaper run by students of a university, high school, middle school, or other school. These papers traditionally cover local and, primarily, school or university news....

 distributed at Truman State University

Truman State University

Truman State University is a public liberal arts and sciences university in Missouri, United States and a member of the Council of Public Liberal Arts Colleges. About 6,000 students attend Truman, pursuing degrees in 43 undergraduate and 9 Graduate programs. It is located in Kirksville in...

 and throughout the Kirksville

Kirksville, Missouri

Kirksville is the county seat of Adair County, Missouri, United States. It is located in Benton Township. The population was 17,505 at the 2010 census. Kirksville also anchors a micropolitan area that comprises Adair and Schuyler counties. The city is perhaps best known as the location of Truman...

, Missouri

Missouri

Missouri is a US state located in the Midwestern United States, bordered by Iowa, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Nebraska. With a 2010 population of 5,988,927, Missouri is the 18th most populous state in the nation and the fifth most populous in the Midwest. It...

 community. The publication is entirely student

Student

A student is a learner, or someone who attends an educational institution. In some nations, the English term is reserved for those who attend university, while a schoolchild under the age of eighteen is called a pupil in English...

-run and funded mostly through its own advertising revenue. It has published continuously since 1909, and its current circulation is about 4,500.

The Index publishes about 14 issues per academic term

Academic term

An academic term is a division of an academic year, the time during which a school, college or university holds classes. These divisions may be called terms...

 for a total of 28 per year, on Thursdays, and does not publish when classes are not in session. An issue usually includes 20 pages.

Membership

Staff members of the Index attend conferences sponsored by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ)

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 College Media Advisers, Inc. and many belong to the Truman chapter of SPJ.

Recognition

The Index has won regional and national awards through SPJ and CMA, including the nationwide Apple Award by College Media Advisers in 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2009 in its category of best non-daily broadsheet newspaper and national Best in Show award, given by the CMA, in 2006.

The Index has been named a Pacemaker finalist, one of the most prestigious honors bestowed on collegiate media, by the Associated Collegiate Press seven of the last 10 years, in 1997, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2004 and 2005. 2007's finalists will be announced in the fall.

Individual staff members claimed 26 awards at the Missouri CMA conference in April 2007, which earned the Index the sweepstakes award, and 10 Mark of Excellence awards at the regional SPJ conference, also in April.

Competition

Although the Index is published in the same micropolitan area as the Kirksville Daily Express and they are therefore in nominal competition, the two newspapers often feature different content and focus. The Daily Express is published six times per week, its staff is smaller and it relies on wire content. The Daily Express also publishes stories relating to high school sports and other local events, while the Index tends to focus on events that relate to the University community.

Quality standards

The Index follows AP style and has developed its own Index stylebook so that references to campus and community events, places and traditions are standardized. Its staff is highly trained and expected to maintain the ethical standards

Journalism ethics and standards

Journalism ethics and standards comprise principles of ethics and of good practice as applicable to the specific challenges faced by journalists. Historically and currently, this subset of media ethics is widely known to journalists as their professional "code of ethics" or the "canons of journalism"...

 of any professional media outlet.

The online version of The Index is hosted by College Publisher

College Publisher

College Publisher is an online hosted college newspaper system used by hundreds of college newspapers around the United States. The product is an application service provider that provides web site design and hosting...

. In addition to viewing each week's stories and accessing an archive, readers can check for updates for breaking news.