Student Media: The State Press, ASU Web Devil and Sun Devil Television Students work in The State Press newsroom. Mission and Overview (1) To serve the university community Student Media provides the university community with news, information and a forum for the exchange of ideas, while also providing an educational learning environment for students. Student Media properties include the State Press newspaper, ASU Web Devil, SPM weekly magazine, and Sun Devil Television. Each of these is managed and staffed by ASU students with advice and training from professional employees. Students make all final editorial decisions and take full responsibility for editorial content. While working at Student Media, students can gain practical experience as reporters, writers, editors, Web developers, designers, photographers, producers, directors, videographers, salespeople, and business managers. Student Media generates 90 percent or more of its own revenue, making it a largely self-supporting department. Salaries, equipment, phones, supplies and other essentials are paid out of department revenues. History For many years, the newspaper was part of the journalism department at ASU, but in the mid-1970s, amid a nationwide movement to make campus newspapers independent of academic departments and direct faculty supervision, ASU President John Schwada placed it under the authority of a Board of Student Publications. The first board resigned within a month because of a disagreement with the Arizona Board of Regents over its independence, which led to recognition of the newspaper as an editorial product independent of university interference. By the 1980s, the paper had evolved into a five-day-a-week publication and one of the largest newspapers in the state. Today The State Press staff is made up of about 70 students each semester who work in paid positions as reporters, photographers, copy editors, section editors and columnists. The editor-in-chief is chosen each semester by the Student Media Advisory Board, which is made up of journalism faculty and professionals, a representative of ASU’s Office of Student Affairs and undergraduate and graduate students. The editor, in turn, hires the rest of the staff. The newspaper has consistently been rated among the best college newspapers in the country. In 2004, 2005 and 2006, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association named The State Press a Gold Crown and Silver Crown winner, respectively — the highest awards given to college newspapers. The State Press also was honored in 2005 with the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism, a prestigious national award given to one college paper each year for its commitment to ethics. Student journalists working for The State Press consistently place in the prestigious Hearst awards for college journalism students and sweep the Society of Professional Journalism regional awards. In 2005 Web Devil was named the Best Student Web Site in the country by the Online News Association, as well as winning first place for College Internet Service in the EpPy awards and being named a national finalist in the Webby awards competition. The Web Devil was second runner-up for the prestigious EpPy award in 2006. The vast majority of students involved in The State Press and Web Devil are majors in the Cronkite School. Student Media Director Jason Manning, former politics editor at washingtonpost.com, is also an instructor at the Cronkite School. For more information on Student Media, contact Manning at jason.manning@asu.edu. |
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