State Press - History

History

The history of The State Press goes back to ASU's establishment as a "Normal School" during Arizona's territorial period. The university's first student newspaper, The Normal Echo, made its debut on October 18, 1890. Back then, it was a one-page supplement to the local newspaper now called the East Valley Tribune.

The existence of The State Press as an independent entity began in 1906, when it became the Tempe Normal Student, a four-page tabloid distributed on campus each Friday for five cents per copy. The paper changed its name to Tempe Collegian in 1925 when the school's name changed to Tempe College in the same year. The name was eventually shortened to the Collegian in 1930 and fell under the control of the newly created Faculty of Journalism two years later.

The newspaper was renamed the Arizona State Press in 1936, and the name was shortened to State Press the next year. (The word "The" was added to the masthead in the early 2000s.)

In the 1970s, The State Press regained its independence from what is now the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. Initially, the president of ASU at the time, John Schwada, placed the paper under the authority of a Board of Student Media. The first board resigned within a month because of a disagreement with the Arizona Board of Regents regarding its role in the newspaper's affairs. The department is now under the Office of Vice President for University Student Initiatives and maintains a significant amount of independence from the school; although ASU provides equipment and offices on campus, The State Press pays production costs and salaries through advertising revenue. Decisions on editorial content are left to the paper's editorial board; the full-time director of ASU Student Media plays a purely advisory role.

On September 10, 1984, the paper added a Monday edition and began to operate as a five-days-a-week daily publication.

In 2008, the newspaper opened a second newsroom on ASU's Downtown Phoenix campus, in the newly constructed Cronkite/Eight Building. Many reporters and a handful of editors work from the downtown newsroom, while the balance of the newsroom staff – as well as the advertising, production and administrative staffs – work from ASU Student Media's headquarters in Matthews Center on the Tempe campus.

In the spring semester of 2013, The State Press went from being a five-day-a-week publication to a weekly, ending a 28-year run as a student daily. This comes alongside an effort to boost the paper's online presence. Also, the paper will be delivered in the dorms on the day of the week it runs.