The Diamondback

Notable journalists who worked at The Diamondback include:

• Jayson Blair (editor-in-chief in 1996), former journalist for The New York Times. Blair achieved nationwide notoriety as a journalist at the Times for serious reporting errors, fabrication of facts, and plagiarism. A letter signed by 30 former Diamondback staffers regarding the situation with Blair also complained about the lack of involvement by the board that owns the paper.[10]
• Norman Chad (editor-in-chief in 1978), an ESPN columnist and World Series of Poker commentator.
• Brian Crecente (reporter 1993–1994), editor-in-chief of Gawker Media website Kotaku named one of the 20 most influential people in the video game industry over the past 20 years.
• Jack Kelley, former USA Today international correspondent who resigned after fabricating major stories and plagiarizing on at least two dozen occasions[11]
• David Mills, a former features writer for The Washington Times and The Washington Post. Mills also found success in Hollywood. He was a television writer for NYPD Blue from 1995 to 1997. He also wrote several episodes of Homicide: Life on the Street and ER. In 2003, he created Kingpin, an NBC miniseries. He won two Emmy Awards.
• Michael Olesker, former columnist for the Baltimore Sun, commentator for WJZ-TV and writer for the Baltimore Examiner. He resigned from the Sun after accusations of plagiarism.
• David Simon, author of Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets and The Corner. Based on his books, Simon later created the TV series Homicide: Life on the Street and The Wire, as well as the mini-series, The Corner.
• Mi-Ai Parrish (editor-in-chief 1991-1992) is president and publisher of the Arizona Republic and azcentral.com. Previously publisher of The Kansas City Star and Idaho Statesman. Journalist at Minneapolis Star Tribune, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Sun-Times.
• Stephen Petranek, American writer and editor.[12]

• Charlie Samuels (features 1983-84) has been contributing to The New York Times on a freelance basis since 1990 and has been assigned by Time, Newsweek, US News & World Report, USA Today and Sports Illustrated.

• Frank Cho's strip Liberty Meadows started as a cartoon strip called University² for The Diamondback.
• Aaron McGruder's comic strip The Boondocks first premiered in The Diamondback in 1997. The comic has since gone on to widespread success in syndication, and has its own television show.
• Jeff Kinney's comic strip Igdoof ran in The Diamondback in the early 1990s. He writes and illustrates the Diary of a Wimpy Kid book series and web comic.