History
Broadside, George Mason University's official student newspaper, began its life as The Gunston Ledger. The Gunston Ledger, whose first issue appeared on the then George Mason College campus located in Bailey's Crossroads, VA on October 15, 1963, was an eight-page monthly printed on 12 inch by 9 inch paper. Its staff of twelve students included a photograph editor, Richard Sparks, who contributed two to four photos to each issue. The content consisted of campus news, features on GMC faculty and students, engagement and wedding notices, and some commentary.
The Ledger became Broadside on October 28, 1969. It was noted in that issue that the name change was part of an effort to remake the paper into more of a news instrument like the early publications of the nation's revolutionary fathers. Broadside was a weekly paper which contained sixteen or more pages in each issue. Photography in Broadside was mostly limited to campus events and personalities.
Broadside began printing in a broadsheet format in 1982 (12-inch by 24-inch), but moved to a tabloid format in 1986 (printed on 12 inch by 12 inch paper). Broadside changed sizes again in fall 1992 when it began being produced in a new tabloid format (11 inch by 17 inch). It would continue to be funded by tax payer dollars and ad revenues. During that same year the newspaper began publishing twice a week on Mondays and Thursdays. The newspaper again underwent a change in format in fall 2000 when it switched back to a broadsheet (printed on 11.5-inch by 22-inch paper). Broadside remained a twice weekly publication until fall 2004 when it returned to a weekly publication. Broadside also began publishing its news on the internet in the Fall of 1996.
Throughout the decades Broadside's masthead has undergone several transformations. Several designed mastheads have lasted several years, but the latest and perhaps longest tenured masthead in the 2000s was created by production editor Clayton Tompkins in 2000. The green and gold masthead, that consisted of the name Broadside in gold with a green stripe with the word's "George Mason University's Student Newspaper" typed in white and a green outline of the university's Johnson Center in a rising gold sun, was the longest tenured masthead in the publications history. It was used for nine consecutive semesters from fall 2000 through fall 2004.
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