The Signal (college newspaper)

The March 13, 2012 front page of
The Signal
Type Weekly student newspaper
Format Tabloid
Owner(s) Georgia State University
Publisher Georgia State Student Publications
Editor Daniel Varitek
Founded 1933
Headquarters Atlanta, Georgia,
United States
Circulation 5,000 (spring and fall) [1]
Website georgiastatesignal.com

The Signal is the official student newspaper of Georgia State University in Atlanta, Georgia. As of 2018, The Signal has a weekly circulation of 5,000, distributed to all Georgia State campuses, including Alpharetta, Atlanta, Decatur, Dunwoody, Newton and a handful of locations in the surrounding area. The paper publishes on Tuesdays during Spring and Fall semesters (in addition to a summer magazine for incoming students). It primarily covers news, events and issues specific to the Georgia State community and covers stories relating to the city of Atlanta with interest to its readers.

History

Like the university, the student newspaper of what is now Georgia State University has evolved with each incarnation of the school.[2] Georgia State's first student newspaper, The Technite, was named in homage to the Georgia Institute of Technology's own student paper, The Technique, when the school was founded as the Georgia School of Technology's Evening School of Commerce.[3] In 1933, as the university changed to become the Atlanta Extension Center of the University System of Georgia, the two divisions of the school (the day division and the night division) each produced their own separate newspapers (named The Junior Collegiate and the Evening Signal, respectively). On two occasions the publications would appear in combination with one another, initially as the Collegiate-Signal on April 21, 1941, and again as the University Signal on September 22, 1941.[4] It wasn't until the Evening Signal merged with the day division newspaper, The Junior-Collegiate, permanently in 1943 that the formal name of the publication would become The Signal.[5] Since that time, a number of mastheads have been used, including The University Signal, The Georgia State Signal, the Georgia State College Signal, and the Georgia State University Signal.[6]

During his time at Georgia State, D.W. Pine, Design Director of Time magazine was editor-in-chief of The Signal.[7]

Present-day publication

The print edition of The Signal is published every Tuesday during the Fall and Spring semesters, with the exceptions of Finals Week, Spring Break and Thanksgiving Break. It also prints a special summer magazine for incoming freshman and transfer students, known as The Urbanite (named after the arts & entertainment magazine once published by The Signal in the 1990s and 2000s). The website is updated daily throughout the year.

The newspaper is operated by a staff of approximately 50 paid and unpaid students, broken into the editorial, marketing and advertising departments, respectively. Although Georgia State offers degrees in journalism, The Signal welcomes all students within the university to contribute to its content. It is funded primarily by print advertisements, printing costs are paid for by student fees.[8] It runs its website, georgiastatesignal.com, independently from the school. The georgiastatesignal.com URL was launched in 2012 (after over a decade of the paper publishing at gsusignal.com through the College Publisher system).

Sections

The print edition of The Signal is generally between 16 and 20 pages long and organized into four sections:

  • Arts and Living
Includes human interest stories, reviews of music, movies, performance arts, and video games, cartoons, a crossword puzzle, sudoku puzzles, and campus events.
  • News
Includes news, investigative stories and Georgia State-specific crime reports.
  • Opinions
Includes editorials, an editorial cartoon, op-eds, and letters to the editor, as well as a regular Student Vox feature.
  • Sports
Includes features, team profiles, in-depth analysis and summaries of recent Georgia State sports games.

Awards

The Signal has won numerous awards, including;

  • The 2012/2013/2014/2017 General Excellence awards in "Division 4A" from the Georgia College Press Association (awarded in 2013/2014/2015/2018)[9][10]
  • The "Best College Newspaper" award in the Southeast Journalism Conference's 2013, 2016 and 2017 "Best of the South" contests[11][12][13]
  • Best in Show in its division at the National College Media Convention on November 4, 2012 [14]

References

  1. ↑ "Nationwide Newspapers". Nationwideadvertising.com. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  2. ↑ "97 Years Strong" (PDF). Georgia State University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 November 2011. Retrieved 6 June 2012.
  3. ↑ "Technite, 1930-10-20". Digital Collections. Georgia State University Library. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  4. ↑ "Evening Signal, 1933-10-02". Digital Collections. Georgia State University Library. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  5. ↑ "The Georgia State University Signal, 1970-10-22". Digital Collections. Georgia State University Library. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  6. ↑ "Georgia State Signal, 1962-11-14". Digital Collections. Georgia State University Library. Retrieved 10 May 2013.
  7. ↑ Supreme, James. "10 SUPERSTARS YOU NEVER KNEW ATTENDED GEORGIA STATE UNIVERSITY". Students in the City. Georgia State University. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  8. ↑ Seupersad, Leah. "A New Signal". Georgia State University. Retrieved 11 May 2013.
  9. ↑ "Student Newspaper Wins Top Honors at College Press Awards, Journalism Conference". Georgia State University. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  10. ↑ "Students Learn- and Win- at SEJC and GPI - Student Media". studentmedia.gsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  11. ↑ ""Best College Newspaper" win highlights 16 top ten finishes for Signal/GSTV/WRAS at SEJC". Southeast Journalism Conference. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
  12. ↑ "2016 Winners | Southeast Journalism Conference". sejc.org. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  13. ↑ "Students Learn- and Win- at SEJC and GPI - Student Media". studentmedia.gsu.edu. Retrieved 2018-02-28.
  14. ↑ "Signal Wins at National College Media Convention". Georgia State University. Retrieved 23 February 2014.
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