Five hours a day. That's how long the offices on the second floor of Robinson Hall are quiet when The Dartmouth is in production.
The rest of the time -- from 7 a.m. when carriers start to deliver the paper to about 2 a.m. when the last senior editors hit the lights -- reporters, photographers, editors, advertising representatives, columnists and cartoonists are working busily to put out America's oldest college newspaper.
"The D," as it is known around campus, is an entirely student-run enterprise. It provides the only daily source of campus news and opinion. Founded in 1799 by a small set of enterprising students, including Daniel Webster (Class of 1801), The D is also one of the oldest U.S. newspapers of any kind.
And like this issue, every edition of The Dartmouth is distributed free to current students. Check out each day's paper by looking for our forest-green boxes at over a dozen locations across campus.
Inside The Dartmouth
It takes over 100 students to make The D happen each day, but they play a wide variety of roles. One of the paper's great merits is its flexibility -- whether you'd like to contribute an article once a term or commit to tracking down the hottest stories as they break, The D welcomes anyone with a little enthusiasm.
The Op-Ed page, one of the most-read sections of the newspaper, is home to some of the best debates on campus. The D prints submissions from members of both the Dartmouth and the Hanover communities and is also home to an army of staff columnists and cartoonists. Our op-ed writers tackle campus controversies and issues of national and international scope with equal fervor. And when a compelling campus issue emerges, The D's editorial board weighs in with an opinion of its own.
The Sports page keeps readers informed about each one of Dartmouth's athletic teams in additions to providing professional sports coverage. Every Monday, look to The Dartmouth's pull-out "Big Green Sports Weekly" for four to eight pages devoted entirely to in-depth coverage of the world of sports.
The Arts & Entertainment section features CD, book, movie and play reviews written by our arts staff, as well as previews and features on important campus arts events. One of the highlights of the paper is each Friday's "Dartmouth Mirror" -- a four to eight page magazine devoted to trends and lifestyles.
Finally, the World and Nation page culls from top national papers such as The Washington Post to keep readers abreast of what's happening in the "real world" and in the stock market.
For those outside of Hanover, The Dartmouth Online -- www.thedartmouth.com -- is updated daily so internet users all over the world can keep up to date with Dartmouth events. Thedartmouth.com's online staff works hard to make sure the site features not only the latest news from the paper, but also material unique to the online version, which is important since the site receives over 20,000 hits per day. During the Fall term, The D will unveil a new, redesigned website.
Independent Journalism
As noted above, The D is completely student run -- student editors research and assign stories that are written by student reporters; student photographers capture the images that are seen in the paper; students are responsible for the layout and design of the printed page; and student representatives solicit and design the advertisements that help keep the newspaper in business.
The D is entirely independent of the College. Our corporation, The Dartmouth, Inc., leases its office space from the College and enjoys complete and total editorial and financial freedom.
Getting involved
Unlike many other campus organizations, The D is a place where freshmen can jump right in and make an immediate impact -- whether you were editor-in-chief of your high school paper or you have never written a newspaper article before. Students of all journalistic backgrounds have an opportunity to rise quickly because the paper's editors truly believe in The D's role as a teaching paper.
Anytime you step into our Robinson Hall offices, a team of editors and experienced reporters is on hand to answer any questions and guide you through the twists an assignment may take. The newsroom atmosphere is supportive, collaborative and unpretentious.
Freshmen play an incredibly important role at The D because staff writers contribute the heart of our coverage. Each year The D attracts a bright corps of new reporters, many of whom ascend to editorial positions during their junior year. Whatever aspect of the paper you choose to pursue, The Dartmouth offers a wealth of hands-on experience that will be useful to you in college and for years after.
Staff members of The Dartmouth have in recent years held internships at CNN, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Washington Post, TheStreet.com and Hearst newspaper syndicate. Many of our writers have gone on to full time jobs at The Times and The Post after graduation.
The D has produced many high-profile journalists, including former USA Today editor-in-chief Peter Prichard, Wall Street Journal columnist and 2000 Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Gigot, former editor of the New Republic and current Fox News host Morton Kondracke, New York Times writers Christopher Wren, David Rosenbaum and Jacques Steinberg and Philadelphia Inquirer columnist David Boldt.
Despite its location in a small rural area, don't underestimate the power of your audience. Dartmouth often finds itself in the national spotlight -- and The D has always been right there to cover the news.
When the national media descends on Hanover -- during New Hampshire's presidential primaries, the 2001 murders of professors Half and Susanne Zantop and last spring's campus controversy surrounding the war in Iraq, staffers at The D have consistently provided a critically important source of information. Because of their aggressive reporting, members of The Dartmouth staff have been interviewed by local, national and international media organizations including CNN, Fox News, BBC, NPR, A&E, The Los Angeles Times and others.
A history of The Dartmouth
The Dartmouth, Inc. -- a $300,000 corporation that is run by a 13-member student-run board -- is charged with maintaining the long-term financial health of the newspaper.
At its founding in 1799, today's D was a very different entity. Called The Dartmouth Gazette, it published quite irregularly.
In June 1820, the Gazette became The Dartmouth Herald.
Another two decades passed and in November 1839, The Dartmouth Herald changed its name to The Dartmouth. Around 1875, it became a weekly paper, and in 1920, the student editors voted to go to the current daily format.
In the spring of 1999, The Dartmouth celebrated its Bicentennial with a weekend-long reunion which brought more than 100 D alums back to Hanover.
You can fill out The Dartmouth subscription form in this issue and mail it to us to begin receiving The Dartmouth at home once Fall term begins. (Let us keep your parents up to speed so you can concentrate on your studies or ... extracurricular activities.)
We'll be having a few open houses for anyone interested in The D during the first week of Fall term -- keep an eye out for the exact dates and times when you arrive in Hanover.
We look forward to meeting you and introducing you to Dartmouth College's one and only school in undergraduate journalism.
