The Collegian (Kansas State University)

The ''Kansas State Collegian'' is the official daily student-run newspaper of Kansas State University. Founded in 1896, the ''Collegian'' has a circulation of 4,750. It is owned and published by Collegian Media Group.

History

The inaugural edition of the student newspaper at K-State, then known as the ''Students' Herald'', was published in 1896. The school became the first college or university in the United States to offer a four-year course in printing in 1910 with its industrial journalism curriculum.

During World War II, the paper was reduced from a broadsheet to a tabloid and was published once a week on the campus press. In 1946, the paper returned to its former size and was published on the presses of the ''Manhattan Mercury-Chronicle''. The frequency and size of the paper changed again in 1949, when a Cox-O Type press was installed in the basement of Kedzie Hall and the ''Collegian'' went from a semi-weekly broadsheet to a daily tabloid-sized publication. In 1966, a 50,000 Cottrell web offset press was installed.

Collegian Media Group acquired the first computerized editing equipment in a Kansas newsroom and among the first four in a U.S. university in 1972, when Bill Brown, the director of the company, persuaded the board to purchase two Hendrix editing display terminals. An upgrade to punched tape typesetting equipment followed in 1982 with the installation of a Compugraphic Trendsetter. Another Trendsetter was added in 1983 and the ''Collegian'' changed to broadsheet format. Laser typesetting came to the paper in 1987, when an Apple LaserWriter Plus and Linotronic 100 replaced the Trendsetter presses. In 1992, under the direction of adviser Ron Johnson, the paper started evolving towards to full pagination in January, when Student Senate funded a half-million dollar purchase of Macintosh computer equipment.

The first ''Collegian'' website launched in 1994. Kelly Campbell and Ryan Korte, the ''Collegian'' network administrators, were among the original creators of the online version of the ''Collegian''. The first "eCollegian" edition appeared in the summer, becoming only the third college newspaper to publish daily on the Web. The privilege fee continuation resulted in an upgrade of the ''Collegian''s computers to PowerMacs, and printing services purchased a machine that allowed the pages to print straight to film, improving color and reproduction quality. The Electronic ''Collegian'' also won first place in content in the Associate Collegiate Press' Best of the Net competition in Washington, D.C.

In 1999, the ''Collegian'' accepted the bid of the '' Salina Journal'' to print the ''Collegian'' on its presses, allowing the ''Collegian'' to go four-color, five days a week, for the first time. The ''Collegian'' has since renewed its agreement with the ''Salina Journal''. Meanwhile, the historic press machine in the basement of Kedzie was dismantled and removed. By the summer of 2006, the ''Collegian'' officially signs on and launches its updated Web site with the college newspaper hosting company, College Publisher. The ''Collegian'' continued pressing forward with its Web site, and by summer 2007, had begun hiring in-house staff members who focused on video editing. By July, the ''Collegian'' had also established an online e-mail subscription service, message board/forum system and interactive university calendar.
On July 9 the ''Collegian'' launched a redesigned Web site with College Publisher 5.0. The ''Collegian'' was one of the first College Publisher affiliates to launch a 5.0 Web site.

In the Fall of 2012, the ''Collegian'' changed webpage platforms from College Publisher to Wordpress. This change came in unison with an overarching organizational name change from Student Publications, Inc., to Collegian Media Group. The ''Collegian's'' logo was changed from a graphic design of the text ''Kansas State Collegian'' to ''the collegian'' in lower case text with "independent voice for Kansas State University" as a sub-header in the logo. The logo also has a new insignia that is two apostrophes in a circle to form a "C".

Recent notable awards

*2012: Society of Professional Journalists, Region 7 Mark of Excellence: Breaking News Reporting, First Place; General News Reporting, Third Place
*2011: William Randolph Hearst Foundation Journalism Awards: Feature Writing, Fourth Place
*2011: Society of Professional Journalists: Mark of Excellence Award
*2011: Kansas Association of Broadcasters: Hard News Package, First Place
*2010: Rolling Stone: College Journalist of the Year
*2009: College Newspaper Business & Advertising Managers: Best Run Of Press Group Promotion
*2008: Columbia Scholastic Press Association: Maps, First Place; Charts, First Place; Sports Feature Writing, First Place

Notable alumni

Notable former staff members of the Collegian include:
*Dan Biles, Justice, Kansas Supreme Court
* Gail Gregg, Multi-media artist
* Pete Souza, Chief photographer, The White House

References

{{Kansas State University

Kansas State University
Publications established in 1896
Student newspapers published in Kansas
1896 establishments in Kansas