Trisha Shetty (Editor)

Technician (newspaper)

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Technician is the student newspaper of North Carolina State University. Its first edition was published in 1920, and it has been published continuously since that date, becoming a daily paper in fall 1988.

Contents

Overview

The newspaper is published in print twice per week when school is in session, on Mondays and Thursdays. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, the paper is published completely online, http://www.technicianonline.com. In the mid-1990s it was one of the first university newspapers to publish to the World Wide Web.

Since North Carolina State University has no journalism school, Technician's editorial staff comprises paid, full-time students. The paper operates as a public forum for student opinion with students having the final say over content.


The newspaper's funding is managed by the university's Student Media Board of Directors. Technician submits an annual budget request that is reviewed, modified as necessary and approved by the board each spring. Technician uses no student fee monies directly and is entirely funded by advertising monies.

Notable alumni

  • Roy H. Park, media mogul, founder of broadcasting and newspaper chain Park Communications Inc.
  • William C. Friday (1941), American educator and leader of the University of North Carolina system from 1956-86.
  • Chris Hondros, photographer and 2003 finalist for the Pulitzer Prize
  • Richard Curtis (1972), a founder and managing editor of graphics and photography for USA Today
  • Joseph Galarneau (1989), chief operating officer for Newsweek

    • Controversies

    Like many student newspapers, Technician has seen its share of controversies, including:

  • In 1990, the newspaper ran an editorial calling for the dismissal of embattled head basketball coach Jim Valvano. Valvano, a popular figure who led the team to the 1983 national championship, had come under fire for ethical and regulatory lapses in handling the basketball program. The editorial was resented as a publicity stunt. Valvano ultimately left the university under fire.
  • On September 3, 1992, a conservative opinion columnist harshly criticized African-American students' demands for a black cultural center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The inflammatory article resulted in widespread theft of the edition (it is distributed free). Students also burned copies of the Technician in the Brickyard in protest. The aftermath led to the creation of the university's African-American interest publication, Nubian Message.
  • In 1992, Owen S. Good explained that 'cheerleading is not a sport'.
  • In 1993, the men's basketball team lost to Campbell University for the first time since the 1940s. A story on the defeat ran under the headline "Worst loss since Hitler" and was castigated for its insensitivity.
  • Following disastrous Wolfpack basketball seasons in 1995 and 1996, Technician published staff editorials asking for the resignation or firing of coach Les Robinson. The editorials were timed to run on the eve of the ACC Tournament play-in game for last-place teams, which had become known throughout the conference as "The Les Robinson Invitational." Robinson resigned following his team's loss at the tournament. Asked if he had any regrets at his farewell press conference, Robinson said, "Only that the school paper called me a loser."
  • After new leadership took the helm at the paper in Spring 1996, several Technician editors and reporters were fired without just cause and escorted from the newspaper's offices by university public safety officers. Two months later, three of the fired editors used their inside knowledge of the production process to hijack the last edition of the paper for the school year, secretly inserting a full-column editorial criticizing the new editor-in-chief for using her power over personnel matters to settle personal scores and calling on university administrators to intervene. All 18,000 copies of the paper were distributed on campus the next morning containing the critical editorial, and the new student management was left unable to retract it until the resumption of publication the following semester. Technician's insulted editor-in-chief filed a report with public safety, which investigated the matter as a larceny. Despite dusting for fingerprints and questioning the former employees, investigators were unable to find any evidence against the suspected perpetrators and no charges were filed.
  • On August 29, 2005, a crowd of approximately 200 Greek Life and African American Student Advisory Council representatives gathered on Harris Field to protest a Technician article entitled “Sorostitutes are weak and wounded.” Students complained the article was an unfair representation of women's activities in Greek Life. While the event received a lot of media attention, it was quickly overshadowed by Hurricane Katrina’s destruction on the Gulf Coast.
  • In January 2006, Technician ran an article by student contributor Jeff Gaither, stating that drunk driving was at times unavoidable and giving tips on how to avoid getting caught. The author subsequently wrote a retraction of the article.
  • In February 2014, Editor-in-Chief Sam DeGrave discontinued the traditional "Daily Tar Hell" satire newspaper while citing racist, sexist, and homophobic humor of past editions as his motivation for halting the ever-popular publication. Several students and alumni were unhappy with the decision and consequently sent a plethora of letters to the editor to voice their frustration. Many argued that the "hateful humor" was not prevalent in recent years and the satire was all in good taste while others were upset to see one of the few longstanding traditions of the university be tampered with. Some wrote letters in support of the decision to discontinue the satire edition. DeGrave published a letter from the editor titled "One week in Daily Tar Hell", in which he responded to his readers' criticism.

    • Technician Editors-in-Chief

    1919-1920 • vol. 1 • Marion Francis, editor
    1920-1921 • vol. 2 • J.H. Lane, editor
    1921-1922 • vol. 3 • E.C. Tatum, editor
    1922-1923 • vol. 4 • Alvin M. Fountain, editor
    1923-1924 • vol. 4 • W.S. Morris, editor
    1924-1925 • vol. 5 • S.R. Wallis, editor
    1925-1926 • vol. 6 • E. G. Moore, editor
    1926-1927 • vol. 7 • R.R. Fountain, editor
    1927-1928 • vol. 8 • W.L. Roberts, editor
    1928-1929 • vol. 9 • A. Lawrence Aydlett, editor
    1929-1930 • vol. 10• A.L. Weaver, editor
    1930-1931 • vol. 11• Roy H. Park, editor
    1931-1932 • vol. 12 • Louis H. Wilson, editor
    1932-1933 • vol. 13 • H.A. McClung Jr., editor
    1933-1934 • vol. 14 • E.J. Lassen, editor
    1934-1935 • vol. 15 • Eugene S. Knight, editor
    1935-1936 • vol. 16 • Robert B. Knox Jr., editor
    1936-1937 • vol. 17 • R. Hall Morrison, Jr., editor
    1937-1938 • vol. 18 • Dick McPhail, editor
    1938-1939 • vol. 19 • Stephen Sailer, editor
    1939-1940 • vol. 20 • E.P. Davidson, editor
    1940-1941 • vol. 21 • Henry B. Rowe, editor
    1941-1942 • vol. 22 • Carl Sickerott, editor
    1942-1943 • vol. 23 • Don Barksdale, editor
    1943-1944 • vol. 24 • Gordon West, editor
    1944-1945 • vol. 25
    1945-1946 • vol. 26
    1946-1947 • vol. 27 • Jack Fisler, editor
    1947-1948 • vol. 28 • Dick Fowler, editor
    1948-1949 • vol. 29 • Avery Brock, editor
    1949-1950 • vol. 30
    1950-1951 • vol. 31 • Bill Haas, editor
    1951-1952 • vol. 32 • Paul Foght, editor
    1952-1953 • vol. 33 • Bob Horn, editor
    1953-1954 • vol. 34 • George Obenshain, editor
    1954-1955 • vol. 35 • John Parker, editor
    1955-1956 • vol. 36 • L.C. Draughon, editor
    1956-1957 • vol. 37 • Terry Lathrop, editor
    1957-1958 • vol. 38 • Jim Moore, editor
    1958-1959 • vol. 39 • Ray Lathrop, editor
    1959-1960 • vol. 40 • Jim Moore, editor
    1960-1961 • vol. 41 • Jay Brame, editor
    1961-1962 • vol. 42 • Mike Lea, editor
    1962-1963 • vol. 43 • Mike Lea, editor
    1963-1964 • vol. 44 • Grant Blair & Allen Lennon, editor
    1964-1965 • vol. 45 • Cora Kemp, editor
    1965-1966 • vol. 46 • Bill Fishburne & Bob Holmes, editor
    1966-1967 • vol. 47 • Jim Kear, editor
    1967-1968 • vol. 48 • Bob Harris, editor
    1968-1969 • vol. 49 • Pete Burkhimer, editor
    1969-1970 • vol. 50 • George Panton, editor
    1970-1971 • vol. 51 • Jack Cozort, editor
    1971-1972 • vol. 52 • Richard Curtis, editor
    1972-1973 • vol. 53 • John N. Walston, editor
    1973-1974 • vol. 54 • Beverly Privette, editor
    1974-1975 • vol. 55 • Bob Estes, editor
    1975-1976 • vol. 56 • Kevin Fisher, editor
    1876-1977 • vol. 57 • Howard Barnett, editor
    1977-1978 • vol. 58 • Lynne Griffin, editor
    1978-1979 • vol. 59 • David Pendered, editor
    1979-1980 • vol. 60 • John Flesher, editor
    1980-1981 • vol. 61 • Andrea Cole, editor
    1981-1982 • vol. 62 • Tucker Johnson, editor
    1982-1983 • vol. 63 • Tom Alter, editor
    1983-1984 • vol. 64 • Jeffrey Bender, editor
    1984-1985 • vol. 65 • Jeffrey Bender, editor
    1985-1986 • vol. 66 • Barry Bowden, editor
    1986-1987 • vol. 67 • John Austin, editor
    1987-1988 • vol. 68 • Joseph Galarneau, editor
    1988-1989 • vol. 69 • Michael Hughes, editor
    1989-1990 • vol. 70 • Dwuan June, editor
    1990-1991 • vol. 71 • Wade Babcock, editor
    1991-1992 • vol. 72 • William Holmes, editor
    1992-1993 • vol. 73 • Joe Johnson, editor
    1993-1994 • vol. 74 • Mark Tosczak, editor
    1994-1995 • vol. 75 • Colin B. Boatwright, editor
    1995-1996 • vol. 76 • Ron Batcho & Jean Lorscheider, editor
    1996-1997 • vol. 77 • Chris Baysden, editor
    1997-1998 • vol. 78 • Terry H. Bennett, editor
    1998-1999 • vol. 79 • Phillip Reese, editor; Paper goes from tri-weekly (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) publication to four times a week (Monday to Thursday)
    1999-2000 • vol. 80 • Ebonie Polite, editor
    2000-2001 • vol. 81 • Jack Daly & Mark McLawhorn, editor; Paper increases publication to a daily paper (Monday through Friday)
    2001-2002 • vol. 82 • Mark McLawhorn & Jimmy Ryals, editor
    2002-2003 • vol. 83 • Jerry Moore & Mathew Pelland, editor
    2003-2004 • vol. 84 • Thushan Amarasiriwardena & Carie Windham, editor
    2004-2005 • vol. 85 • Matthew Middleton, editor
    2005-2006 • vol. 86 • Rebecca Heslin, editor; paper wins first national Crown award from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association
    2006-2007 • vol. 87 • M. Tyler Dukes, editor
    2007-2008 • vol. 88 • Joshua Harrell, editor
    2008-2009 • vol. 89 • Saja Hindi, editor
    2009-2010 • vol. 90 • Ty Johnson, fall editor; Lauren Blakely, Kate Shefte and Russell Witham, spring co-editors
    2010-2011 • vol. 91 • Amanda Wilkins, editor
    2011-2012 • vol. 92 • Laura Wilkinson, editor
    2012-2013 • vol. 93 • Mark Herring, editor
    2013-2014 • vol. 94 • Sam DeGrave, editor
    2014-2015 • vol. 95 • Ravi K. Chittilla, editor; he makes the paper revert to publishing four days a week (Monday through Thursday)
    2015-2016 • vol. 96 • Kaitlin Montgomery, editor; first ever female editor and managing editor pair
    2016-2017 • vol. 97 • Rachel Tanner Smith, editor; paper goes down to two print publications per week (Monday and Thursday) and focuses heavily on web-first publishing, modifies physical paper format from broadsheet to modified tabloid

    References

    Technician (newspaper) Wikipedia
    (Text) CC BY-SA


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