The Johns Hopkins News-Letter
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Format | Broadsheet |
| Owner(s) | Independent |
| Founded | 1896 |
| Headquarters | Baltimore, Maryland, Homewood Museum[1] |
| Website | http://www.jhunewsletter.com |
The Johns Hopkins News-Letter is the independent student newspaper of the Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S. Published since 1896, it is one of the nation's oldest continuously published, weekly student-run college newspapers.
The News-Letter is published every Thursday in a full-color front and back page broadsheet format, and has two sections: an A section and a B section. Its total circulation is approximately 5,200, including the local campuses of Johns Hopkins, area colleges and the greater Baltimore region.
Several times a year, The News-Letter distributes a magazine edition with 20- to 30-page tabloid-sized inserts, such as Best of Baltimore, Cover-Letter (introducing new students to the University), Housing Guide, Lacrosse Guide, and the Dining Guide.
The editorial and business boards consist entirely of undergraduates. Members of the editorial staff are democratically elected to one-year terms, while members of the business board are hired by the editors-in-chief. The current editors-in-chief are Will Anderson and Amanda Auble.
The News-Letter won an Associated Collegiate Press Newspaper Pacemaker award for four-year, non-daily college newspapers in 2015, 2013, 2008, 2005, 2003, and 1995 and was a finalist for the award in 2010, 2007, and 1997.[2]
The News-Letter is an affiliate of UWIRE,[3] which distributes and promotes its content to their network.
History
In 1889, when some believed the university would be better without a student newspaper of any kind, the board of trustees of Johns Hopkins University prohibited the creation of any student publication without the board's written permission. Seven years later, James M. Thomson 1897 and Edgeworth Smith 1898 petitioned the Academic Council to allow publication of four trial issues of a fortnightly periodical to be called The Johns Hopkins News-Letter. Its aim, at a pricey 15 cents an issue, would be to report on local events and provide a forum for students who wished to publish opinion pieces. Eventually, and reluctantly, the board acquiesced, "provided that the plan be carried out in a manner satisfactory to the President."
Notable News-Letter alumni
- Richard Ben Cramer, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for International Reporting in 1979 for reports from the Middle East, New York Times best-selling author
- James M. Thomson, publisher of the New Orleans States-Item, later to become the present-day Times-Picayune
- Russell Baker, Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist and former host of Masterpiece Theatre
- Alger Hiss, U.S. State Department official accused of being a Soviet spy
- Murray Kempton, noted American journalist
- Sidney Offit, curator of the George Polk Award
- Helmut Sonnenfeldt, chairman of the Atlantic Council of the United States and a former aide to Henry Kissinger
- Russ Smith, founder of the Baltimore City Paper and New York Press
- Sujata Massey, mystery writer
- Caleb Deschanel, cinematographer and father of Zooey Deschanel and Emily Deschanel
- J.D. Considine, music critic and former Rolling Stone writer
- James Rosen, Washington D.C. correspondent for Fox News
- Mark Hertsgaard, independent journalist and environmental correspondent for The Nation
- Bruce Drake, former Vice President of National Public Radio
- Felix Posen, philanthropist and promoter of Humanistic Judaism
- Irvin B. Nathan, Attorney General of the District of Columbia, General Counsel of the United States House of Representatives[4]
- Jack Lipkin, global communications director for a major pharmaceutical corporation and creator of the Cover-Letter
- Lauren (Spencer) Deford, Senior Coordinating Producer at SportsNet New York (SNY) and NBC Universal
References
- ↑ Catherine Rogers Arthur, Cindy Kelly. Homewood House. p. 168.
- ↑ Chism, Rachel (14 November 2015). "Johns Hopkins student newspaper earns highest honor in college journalism". Johns Hopkins University. The Hub. Retrieved 1 March 2016.
- ↑ http://www.uwire.com/content/affiliates.html
- ↑ http://www.dcbar.org/for_lawyers/resources/publications/washington_lawyer/march_2013/conversation_nathan.cfm