The Dalhousie Gazette Explained

The Dalhousie Gazette
Type:Bi-Weekly Student Newspaper
Format:Tabloid
Publisher:The Dalhousie Gazette Publishing Society
Chiefeditor:Gökçe On
Maneditor:Mandy King
Newseditor:Jenna Olsen
Opeditor:Alex Robben
Custom Label:Arts & culture editor
Custom:Toni Kleiner
Sportseditor:Mira Posluns
Foundation:1868
Language:English
Headquarters:6136 University Ave., Halifax, Nova Scotia B3H 4J2
Circulation:1,200
Issn:0011-5819
Oclc:1080355152

The Dalhousie Gazette (more commonly referred to as the Gazette) is the main student publication at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. The paper first began publishing in 1868, making it the oldest continually operating student newspaper in North America followed by The Harvard Crimson (1873) and The Columbia Daily Spectator (1877). (The Brunswickan, printed out of the University of New Brunswick, actually predates The Gazette by a year, but began printing in magazine format). The founding editors were J.J. Cameron (who went on to found the Queen's Journal), A.P.Seeton, and W.E. Roscoe.

The Gazettes weekly circulation is 2,000, making it Halifax's third-largest free print publication. The Gazette is run, financed and published by the Dalhousie Gazette Publishing Society, a group of students made up from the Gazettes editors and contributors. The society operates independently of the Dalhousie Student Union, though the paper does charge an annual student levy through the DSU (approx $5.00 per student each academic year) as a means of complementing its advertising income.

The Gazettes primary mandate is to scrutinize and report on the financial, social and administrative powers of the Dalhousie Student Union, its student societies, and the Dalhousie University administration. Within this mandate, the Gazette also covers events and news related to the Dalhousie community, student body and alumni.

As one of Halifax's major independent publications, the Gazettes Dalhousie-centric mandate has often been expanded to include issues outside of the university community proper. Recent publication years of the Gazette gave seen a large emphasis on international events, local artists and regional politics. Reflecting this independent disposition, the Gazettes layout has dispensed with front-page story copy, printing instead a full-cover graphic (usually a photograph) and large teasers with page numbers under the fold.

Along with their Dalhousie counterparts, University of King's College students have made significant contributions to the paper despite being outside of the Gazettes levy umbrella. Aside from providing the paper with many staff reporters and photographers, King's students and alumni have recently filled some of the Gazettes top editorial positions. The editors-in-chief for much of the last decade were King's alumni, and significant portions of the newspaper's editorial staff over the years have come from King's.

A typical issue of the Gazette in 2013/2014 was 24 11x10 pages, with approximately 800 words appearing per page. the Gazette has 10 paid positions: editor-in-chief, managing editor, news editor, opinions editor, arts & culture editor, sports editor, copyeditor, outreach and engagement officer, director of finance and operations, and director of marketing and growth.

Notable alumni

Gazette editors-in-chief

(It was under the Bezanson/MacDougall editorship that the Gazette adopted the tabloid format with a front page graphic rather than a story or photograph. All of the front pages in 1973/74 were cartoons done by Ken Silver whose weekly creations reflected the major news event affecting Dalhousie that week.)

See also

External links