The ''Arizona Daily Wildcat'' is a

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related news, but they may also repor ...

serving the

University of Arizona The University of Arizona (Arizona, U of A, UArizona, or UA) is a public land-grant research university in Tucson, Arizona. Founded in 1885 by the 13th Arizona Territorial Legislature, it was the first university in the Arizona Territory. T ...

. It was founded in 1899 as the ''Sage Green and Silver.'' Previous names include ''Arizona Weekly Life'', ''University Life'', ''Arizona Life'' and ''Arizona Wildcat.'' Its distribution is within the university and the

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

metropolitan area. It has a distribution of 20,000. Its websit
dailywildcat.com
is updated regularly during the spring and fall semesters, while the print version is distributed Wednesday. During the summer months, it is published weekly as the ''Arizona Summer Wildcat''. The ''Arizona Daily Wildcat'' was named ''Best College Newspaper'' by Princeton Review's ''THE BEST 361 COLLEGES, 2006 EDITION''.

Awards

2010 Associated Collegiate Press Online Pacemaker award winner.
2010 Associated Collegiate Press Pacemaker finalist.
2010

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

Mark of Excellence Award National Finalist for online sports reporting at a four-year college or university.
2010 College Media Advisers Apple Award winner for best four-year broadsheet newspaper.
2015 Associated Collegiate Press 2015 National College Media Convention Best of Show

Controversy

The Tuesday October 16, 2012 issue featured a four-panel cartoon by cartoonist D. C. Parsons, deemed offensive by some 8,000 signatories to a petition to have the Cartoonist and Editor-in-Chief and Copy-Editor fired. The editor-in-chief did not step down despite the number of signatories asking for her resignation; however, the cartoonist was promptly fired after the publication. The paper did issue an apology for the matter.

The May Day mystery

The May Day mystery is a series of cryptic advertisements taken out annually on May 1 (

May Day May Day is a European festival of ancient origins marking the beginning of summer, usually celebrated on 1 May, around halfway between the spring equinox and summer solstice. Festivities may also be held the night before, known as May Eve. T ...

) in the ''Arizona Daily Wildcat'' since 1981. The ads are described as a "mess of equations, historical figures, artwork and symbols",} and are signed with a "smiley face" figure. The first known ad appeared on May 1, 1981, featuring the quote "Long live

Chairman Mao Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

" written in

simplified Chinese Simplification, Simplify, or Simplified may refer to: Mathematics Simplification is the process of replacing a mathematical expression by an equivalent one, that is simpler (usually shorter), for example * Simplification of algebraic expressions, ...

. Over the years, the ads grew in complexity. The ads usually appear on the most expensive advertising areas of the newspaper. They share a theme of revolution and social unrest, and featured about 14 languages including forms of Chinese,

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

and

Hebrew Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...

. In 1997, UA alumni and web designer Bryan Hance started a website to document the ads. Hance claimed he has since been contacted by an organization known as the "Orphanage" who provided him with more clues and cryptic messages. In 1998, following an ad featuring many cryptic messages in Hebrew, a group of students accused the ads of

anti-Semitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

and demanded to know the source of the ads. The ads were, for several years, placed by Robert Truman Hungerford, a

Tucson , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

-based lawyer and a UA alumni. He is a "self-described anti-social hermit" with an interest in philosophy, theology, cryptography, languages and medicine. In a 2003 interview, Hungerford claimed to be the legal counsel for an organization who placed the ads, and refused to name the organization. Hungerford also claimed to be a member of the "Orphanage".

Notable alumni

''Daily Wildcat'' alumni have been successful in fields other than journalism, from higher education to thoroughbred race horse training. Alumni in the journalism and media fields include: * Dan Hicks, NBC sportscaster * Kate Longworth, reporter for

Fox Sports Arizona Bally Sports Arizona (BSAZ) is an American regional sports network owned by Diamond Sports Group, a joint venture between Sinclair Broadcast Group and Entertainment Studios, and operates as an affiliate of Bally Sports. The channel broadcasts p ...

' *

Lynne Olson Lynne Olson (born August 19, 1949) is an American author, historian and journalist. She was born on August 19, 1949, and is married to Stanley Cloud, with whom she often writes. In 1969 she graduated from University of Arizona. Before becoming a ...

('' Freedom's Daughters'', '' Citizens of London'') * Dorothy Parvaz, ''

Al Jazeera Al Jazeera ( ar, الجزيرة, translit-std=DIN, translit=al-jazīrah, , "The Island") is a state-owned Arabic-language international radio and TV broadcaster of Qatar. It is based in Doha and operated by the media conglomerate Al Jazeera ...

'' reporter * Merl Reagle, syndicated crossword puzzle creator *

Mort Rosenblum Mort Rosenblum (born 1943), is an American author, editor and journalist. Biography Rosenblum directs Reporting Unlimited, which includes the Mort Report: Non-Prophet Journalism, magazine assignments and book projects. Since 1963, he has reporte ...

, author and foreign correspondent * Frank Sotomayor, retired journalist with the ''LA Times'' and winner of the 1984

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

* Bill Walsh, ''

The Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large nati ...

'' copy chief, creator of theslot.com and author of books on copyediting

References

External links

*
''Arizona Daily Wildcat'' – Online PDF version
{{University of Arizona University of Arizona Newspapers established in 1899 Student newspapers published in Arizona 1899 establishments in Arizona Territory