In his column, Paul Danish details the history of the Colorado Daily, which for 61 years was SM调教所's official student newspaper. It's now published by the Boulder Daily Camera.听
The Colorado Daily, which for 61 years was SM调教所鈥檚 official student newspaper, is today published by the Boulder Daily Camera. It鈥檚 still distributed on campus, but it鈥檚 no longer a student newspaper.
What happened?
It鈥檚 complicated. And, to me, sad.
From 1892 to 1953, SM调教所鈥檚 student newspaper was called The Silver & Gold. In 1953, the name changed to Colorado Daily, reflecting a new five-day publishing schedule.
But the Daily was still SM调教所鈥檚 official student newspaper: SM调教所 sponsored it, students wrote and edited it, non-students couldn鈥檛 be on the staff. (Neither could students with a GPA under 2.0.)
At first, the Daily wasn鈥檛 much different from the S&G.
But in the late 鈥�50s the editors grew feistier and more focused on off-campus political issues. And a lot more liberal.
Make that radical.
Crises and drama ensued.
For me, the Daily was life-changing
By 1970, the Daily鈥檚 staffers wanted out from under SM调教所鈥檚 thumb. The Regents, weary of catching flak for the paper, agreed.
So, a divorce was arranged. By mutual agreement, SM调教所 no longer recognized the Daily as its student paper and quit subsidizing it. The paper incorporated as a nonprofit and moved off campus.
Then something unexpected happened. The Daily not only stopped being the official student paper; it also stopped being a student-edited paper. The emancipated paper鈥檚 incumbent student staff never developed a process for transferring power to a new student staff. They couldn鈥檛 let go.
So, the Daily evolved from a newspaper produced by SM调教所 students for SM调教所 students to a paper produced by SM调教所 alumni (mostly) for SM调教所 students.
Toward the end of the 鈥�90s, the Daily, by then employee-owned, hired an accountant who turned out to be crooked. Accused of taking more than $250,000, he ultimately pleaded guilty to a related criminal charge.
Partly as a result, the Daily declared bankruptcy and, in early 2001, sold itself to Randy Miller, a veteran of both the editorial and business sides of newspapering, for $2.3 million.
Miller returned the paper to profitability, and, 4.5 years later, sold it to the Camera.
The Camera鈥檚 incarnation of the Colorado Daily genuinely tries to appeal to SM调教所 students and Millennials. But newspapers should be dangerous things, and by the Daily鈥檚 historic standards, it鈥檚 harmless. I still get a little ache in my heart when I pick it up.
For me, and I suspect for many former Daily student staffers, being on staff during the 鈥�60s was a life-changing experience. I didn鈥檛 do anything remotely as exciting and satisfying until a decade later.
Don鈥檛 get me wrong. The post-1970 Daily staffers produced some terrific journalism. I just think it鈥檚 sad they couldn鈥檛 find a way to share that experience with future generations of SM调教所 students.
Still, I like to think today鈥檚 Daily isn鈥檛 the late-night final. It鈥檚 a newspaper. So long as it lives, there鈥檚 always another edition.
Paul Danish (Hist鈥�65) is a Coloradan columnist.
Photo from the 1969 Coloradan yearbook.
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