Independent daily newspaper published in Ithaca, New York, United States From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cornell Daily Sun is an independent newspaper at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York. It is published twice weekly by Cornell University students and hired employees. Founded in 1880, The Sun is the oldest continuously independent college daily in the United States.[2]
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The Cornell Daily Sun
Headquarters of The Cornell Daily Sun in August 2018
The Sun features coverage of the university and its environs and articles from the Associated Press and UWIRE. It prints on Tuesdays and Thursdays when the university is open for academic instruction.[3] In addition to these regular issues, The Sun publishes a graduation issue and a freshman issue, which is mailed to incoming Cornell freshmen before their first semester. The paper is free on campus and online. The Sun edits under its proprietary "Sun Style Guide," an amended version of AP Style.
Aside from a few full-time production positions, The Sun is staffed by Cornell students and is fully independent of the university. It operates out of its own building in downtown Ithaca. As of 2023, The Sun is ranked the third-best college student newspaper in the nation, according to College Choice's annual rankings.[4]
19th century
The front page layout of the newspaper
The Cornell Daily Sun was founded in 1880 by William Ballard Hoyt to challenge Cornell's original and leading publication, the weekly Cornell Era, which was founded in 1868. In the newspaper's first edition, published on September 16, 1880, The Sun boasted in its opening paragraph: "We have no indulgence to ask, no favors to beg."
20th century
The newspaper later incorporated and changed to daily frequency, earning its longstanding boast "Ithaca's Only Morning Newspaper." In 1912, it added a second, "first collegiate member of the Associated Press."
Following the shift of its main competitor, The Ithaca Journal, from evening to morning daily publication in 1996, The Sun changed its traditional front page slogan which, after several iterations, now states "Independent Since 1880." This period also marked a shift in The Sun's content from national to local and university-related stories.
21st century
The newspaper's common features include "Around the Sun," a weekly multimedia recap series, and a sex column that appears weekly on Thursdays.
In January 2003, the Cornell Daily Sun Alumni Association purchased the former Elks Lodge in downtown Ithaca, erected 1916. Led by Stanley Chess, the founding president of the Association, John Schroeder '74, and Gary L. Rubin '72, the alumni completely renovated the building over the next several months. Now called the Cornell Daily Sun Building, it has housed the paper's offices since June 2003 and is coincidentally located next door to The Ithaca Journal's offices. The building also houses a kava bar in its basement.
In the fall semester of 2004, The Sun turned free and started featuring full-color front and back pages as part of a redesign in its layout. These moves were partially effected to boost circulation in response to Cornell's Student Assembly's decision to provide The New York Times and USA Today on campus for free to all undergraduate Cornell students.
On September 17, 2005, more than 370 Sun alumni and guests gathered in Manhattan to celebrate The Sun's 125th anniversary. Speakers included Kurt Vonnegut '43, Carl Leubsdorf '59, Sam Roberts '68, Jay Branegan '73, Howard A. Rodman '71, S. Miller Harris '44, and Jeremy Schaap '91. The emcee was Stan Chess '69. A 130th anniversary dinner was held on September 25, 2010.
In 2016, the newspaper announced that it was reducing its publication rate from five days a week to three.[5] In 2020, it further cut back to twice a week as a cost-reducing measure.
The Cornell Daily Sun Alumni Association, comprising former editors, managers, and staff of the Cornell Daily Sun, exists to further journalism by Cornell University students.
Dick Brass, associate editor (1971–72); technology investor, executive, and pioneer who developed first electronic dictionary and thesaurus, ClearType, and Open eBook
Other prominent Cornellians have written letters to the editor, including former U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, who responded to an op-ed on wiretapping written by Cornell Law School students with a letter to the editor in 1953.
Margulis, Daniel ed. A Century at Cornell: Published to Commemorate the Hundredth Anniversary of the Cornell Daily Sun. Ithaca, New York: Cornell Daily Sun, 1980. ISBN0-938304-00-3