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By Anthony Albidrez and Shannon Mullane (MJour’19)

On Sept. 13, 1892, the University of Colorado’s first student newspaper, The Silver and Gold, made its entrance into the field of college journalism. 

This first edition marks the beginning of a long legacy of student news coverage—led by students for students. Although news outlets have come and gone over the years, all of them have documented the colorful history of daily life at the University of Colorado. This week, CMCI and the Department of Journalism are celebrating the 130th anniversary of student newspapers on campus with a deep dive into their history.

This multimedia timeline offers a small glimpse into a much larger history, and CMCI plans to share more over the next year. In it, viewers can read through the front page of The Silver and Gold’s first edition and discover student editorials that stand up for civil rights. They can see what was happening on campus during notable historical periods, like the anti-communism “Red Scare,” the Chicano movement and the arrival of the internet. 

The timeline accompanies “History—As Told by Students,” published in the summer 2022 edition of CMCI Now, and it is one of many projects celebrating the centennial anniversary of the Department of Journalism. We hope you join us in honoring a century of journalism education and enjoy this deep dive into student journalism at 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Boulder!

Sept. 13, 1892

University of Colorado's first student publication launches

Considered the first student newspaper at the University of Colorado Boulder, The Silver and Gold Sept. 13, 1892.

Under the editorship of student Charles Potter, the newspaper’s front page editorial reads, “With this number The Silver and Gold makes its first appearance in the field of college journalism. 

Named from the colors of the state university and maintained by its students, the new paper will endeavor to represent the best interests of the institution in all its departments.”

  The Silver and Gold features an editorial announcing the paper's launch on the front page of its first issue, published in 1892. 
Source: Colorado State Library’s Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection

Sept. 13, 1911

The Silver and Gold increases circulation

When the newspaper first started publication, it was viewed as a literary magazine more than a newspaper. In 1911, The Silver and Gold as the newspaper gains credibility as a news outlet.

1922–1925

The Silver and Gold condemns KKK

In the 1920s, as 91¶ĚĘÓƵ President George Norlin strives to develop the university, the in 91¶ĚĘÓƵ's academic community. KKK-backed Colorado governor, Clarence Morley, demands Norlin fire Jewish and Catholic faculty members. When Norlin refuses, 91¶ĚĘÓƵ faces budget cuts. In editorials like "The Klan Expands," The Silver and Gold staff condemns the KKK, saying:

“Tłó±đ university is too inclusive to support anti-Catholicism; too democratic to permit race hatred; too conservative to allow the reigns of government to pass to a group of hooded anarchists. University officials will be warranted in adopting any reasonable measure in order to curb this threatening nuisance.”

  George Norlin, circa the 1920s. The exact date is unknown. Norlin served as the University of Colorado's president from 1919 until he retired in 1939.  
Source: Charles F. Snow Photographs Collection

May 10–11, 1929

First annual Newspaper Week

The 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Department of Journalism hosts its . The department invites editors and journalists from Colorado and Wyoming to a two-day session on newspaper practices, like advertising sales and writing headlines. Speakers at the event represent publications across the region, including George M. LeCrone Jr., Colorado Springs Farm News; L.C. Paddock, Boulder Daily Camera; R. B. Spencer, Fort Morgan Times; and Allen M. Biggerataff, Sterling Advocate.

  Programs from the first annual Newspaper Week hosted by the Department of Journalism at the University of Colorado in 1929.  
Source: 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Heritage Center

1938–1950

The Silver and Gold covers civil rights

The Silver and Gold frequently spoke out in support of equality and civil rights through its editorials. For example on April 27, 1943, the paper published an editorial that opposed The Denver Post’s . In the piece, student editor Paul Clark wrote:

“. . . now that The Post has declared war on the Japanese-Americans in our cities and relocation centers, it's about time we college students registered our protests against such fascist techniques in our midst.”

The Silver and Gold also frequently covered the Faculty Senate Committee for Ethnic Minorities, the American Student Union, and The Cosmopolitan Club, an international and immigrant club established in 1922 that still exists on campus today.

  In a 1942 newspaper editorial in The Silver and Gold, student editor Paul Clark pushes back against The Denver Post’s anti-Japanese editorials during World War II.   
Source: University of Colorado Digital Library

1953

The Silver and Gold transitions to Colorado Daily

The Silver and Gold rebrands as the Colorado Daily to reflect a new, five-day publishing schedule.

  This edition of the Colorado Daily was the first to be published after the newspaper transitioned from The Silver and Gold in 1953.  
Source: Norlin Library microfilm collection

1970

Colorado Daily leaves campus

In 1970, the University of Colorado Board of Regents cuts ties with all campus publications, including the Colorado Daily. The Colorado Daily as an independent paper in Boulder.

  The 1970 logo of the Colorado Daily.  
Source: Norlin Library microfilm collection

1970

Faculty-led Silver & Gold Record begins

Often mistaken for the student newspaper, The Silver and Gold, the as a faculty-led newspaper in 1970 and continues publishing until 2009.

  The final edition of the faculty-led Silver & Gold Record, published in 2009. 
Source: Coloradoan Alumni Magazine

1972

El Diario de la Gente launches

From 1972 to 1983, the United Mexican American Students (UMAS) as a Chicano student paper, which covered the Chicano movement in Boulder.

  91¶ĚĘÓƵ students march to Regent Hall in fall 1973—a peaceful protest in response to discriminatory financial aid practices.
Source: Photo collection of Juan Espinosa (Jour'74), El Diario de la Gente founder and editor.

1980

The Campus Press begins publishing

Students begin producing The Campus Press in February 1980 as part of a course offered by the School of Journalism. In 1986, The Campus Press was honored with the Sigma Delta Chi award for best all-around newspaper by the Society of Professional Journalists.

  A student reviews copy before an edition of The Campus Press goes to print Dec. 15, 1985. 
Source: 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Heritage Center Archives

1987

NewsTeam Boulder begins broadcasting

NewsTeam Boulder begins broadcasting in 1987 as a 30-minute newscast. One of the first graduates is NBC news correspondent Tom Costello, followed by many other award-winning reporters.

  NewsTeam Boulder students and instructor Melda Adams gather outside a studio in 1987, the year the student broadcast program launched.  
Source: 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Heritage Center Archives

2006

The Campus Press leads in digital age

As the digital age of journalism ramps up, The Campus Press publication in 2006. In April 1994, The Campus Press became the first Colorado newspaper to have both a print newspaper and an online version.

  An advertisement, published in a 2006 print issue of The Campus Press, showcases the new online edition. 
Source: Norlin Library microfilm collection 

2009

The Campus Press becomes 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Independent

In 2009, The Campus Press rebrands as the 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Independent, in part as a step toward increased independence. The newspaper moves its operation out of the classroom setting and plans to move off-campus. It still receives funding, office space and staff support from the journalism school, according to journalism department records. The change is also partially in response to a , published in 2008, that raised concerns about the paper's editorial process. Under the new arrangement, the 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Independent plans to incorporate a new governing board made up of students, faculty and professional journalists.

December 2019

91¶ĚĘÓƵI starts transition to complete independence

In December 2019, CMCI announces it will create a new student media outlet with strong co-curricular and faculty mentorship components. The transition between CMCI and the 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Independent, which experienced a gradual decrease in funding and administrative support during 2020. For 91¶ĚĘÓƵI, the change triggered a period of ongoing adjustment and an opportunity to gain complete independence from the college. For CMCI, it opened the door for exciting educational and professional training for students.

2020

COVID-19 pandemic strikes

In March 2020, the 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Boulder classes, activities and operations in response to the growing COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the disruption, 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Boulder student journalists continue their coverage, documenting the community as it responds to notable events such as COVID-19, the murder of George Floyd and resulting summer 2020 protests, and the 2021 mass shooting at a King Soopers in Boulder.

   The Bold staff gathers for an editorial meeting in fall 2021. Students had to manage the newspaper remotely early in the COVID-19 pandemic and continued to wear face coverings as a public health precaution. 
Source: CMCI archive photo by Kimberly Coffin (CritMed, StratComm’18)

August 2020

The Bold launches

In August 2020, The Bold begins publishing online, featuring stories about campus events and issues, politics, sports and current events. The Bold also has a magazine section for long-form and themed content.

  The Bold staff members pose for a screenshot photo during a Zoom meeting in 2020. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, students primarily managed the developing publication remotely. 
Source: CMCI archive photo

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By Shannon Mullane (MJour’19)

When Bob Ewegen thought back to his days as a student journalist at 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Boulder in the 1960s, he remembered students using mail sacks as sleeping pads on the newsroom floor.

A student in the 1980s, Pete Baumgartner recalled working with a “tough-as-nails” editor and taking turns delivering newspapers at 5 a.m.

Anna Haynes, a 2022 graduate, looked back on the sense of community and hard work that took place in a tiny newsroom with a heavily-used couch.

For 2021 graduate Tayler Shaw, student journalism began and ended with the COVID-19 pandemic—Zoom calls included.

Since 1892, student journalists have covered the University of Colorado, holding up a mirror to campus life and helping their community better understand itself.

This year, as the Department of Journalism marks its centennial anniversary, CMCI is celebrating this long legacy of student journalism. Faculty, staff, students and historians have worked together to uncover more information about the history of campus publications. Their research has resurfaced a colorful record of student life and journalistic practice amidst adversity, controversy and the most significant historical events of the 20th and 21st centuries.

For student journalists, working with campus publications is often a way of life—and a training ground for their future careers.

“[Student publications] just give you the very practical experience that you need to be successful,” said Baumgartner (PolSci, Jour’90), who works for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is based in Prague, Czech Republic. “Tłó±đre’s really no substitute for them.”

Journalism students at work at the University of Colorado, circa 1920s or 1930s. (Charles F. Snow Photography Collection)

"While you’re in college, get a well-rounded education, including history and other humanities courses that will ultimately help  you become a better critical thinker, which is invaluable as a journalist. A lot of what I learned at 91¶ĚĘÓƵ—less technical stuff and more communicating and people skills—I’m still putting in practice every day on the job, especially when I spend long hours with strangers and interview folks who’ve never had a microphone put in front of them.

Kirk Siegler (Jour’00)
NPR National Desk Correspondent

A Window Into History

As an archivist at Norlin Library, David Hays works in what he calls “the memory business.”

View a timeline of student publications at 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Boulder from 1892 to today →

With decades of experience under his belt, Hays knows his way around the maze of letters, newspapers, diaries and other documents in the university’s Rare and Distinctive Collections. It’s the “evidence locker in the court of history,” he likes to say.

When it comes to campus publications, Hays can spout off stories about student coverage—pranks, mishaps and notable stories included—without missing a beat.

“Tłó±đ university has gone through sea changes driven by its rising enrollment, institutional development, administrative growth, and most of all, its campus atmosphere,” Hays said. “Student publications, in all ways, reflected these changes like a mirror.”

There have been many student-focused news sources at 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Boulder over the last 130 years, like club newsletters, broadcast stations, radio programs and faculty-led newspapers. However the long legacy of student newspapers—led by students for students—can be traced back to The Silver and Gold, founded in 1892.

In the early years, the University of Colorado was about the size of a contemporary high school: In 1920, there were about 2,000 students on campus; in the 1940s, about 4,000. Student journalists wrote short, to-the-point articles focused primarily on campus events. The Silver and Gold included columns on every college and inclusive coverage of student, faculty and administrative activities across campus, Hays said.

When veterans returned from World War II, the university community increased its focus on international events. Student publications followed suit, often incorporating campus connections to international news into their formerly hyper-local coverage.

“Tłó±đ whole temperature of campus shifted to internationalism,” Hays said. “Tłó±đre’s nothing like seeing the world from a foxhole to make you an internationalist.”

In the second half of the 20th century, student coverage frequently included more editorializing. As the university population grew past 15,000 students, the publications could not cover all of campus in as much detail, he said.

The newspaper archives, Hays said, are full of examples of student activism, levity and controversy.

He found articles about the antics of student political groups in the 1920s and 1930s—like egging fraternity houses and cross-dressing to sneak into sorority chapter meetings during election season.

When the Ku Klux Klan was at its most powerful in Colorado in the 1920s, The Silver and Gold—a historically liberal paper—spoke against it. In the 1930s, student journalists covered campus efforts to demand the state speak out against antisemitic German policies. They covered faculty members who joined the war effort during World War II and published editorials against the incarceration of Japanese Americans.

As racial segregation intensified in Boulder restaurants, businesses and housing policies, The Silver and Gold staff covered their peers as they pushed for desegregation and racial justice. Yet in 1942, the newspaper was criticized for accepting advertisements from those same businesses.

In 1953, The Silver and Gold was replaced by the Colorado Daily. Throughout the 1950s and 1960s, student journalists wrote about the civil rights movement nationally and locally, covering Black, Native American, Asian American and Chicano activism on and off-campus.

In 1961, David Biggers, a Black 91¶ĚĘÓƵ student and Navy veteran, in the South and was arrested. He sent copy to the Colorado Daily about his time in jail in Montgomery, Alabama, Hays said.

In 1962, an opinion piece in the Colorado Daily criticized presidential candidate Barry Goldwater, calling him “a murderer, no better than the common criminal” during a discussion of American politics.

“Tłó±đ governor and everybody else took it to 91¶ĚĘÓƵ for that,” Hays said. “Tłó±đ editor and editorial writer were fired by the 91¶ĚĘÓƵ President Newton, despite their being cleared by the editorial board and the faculty senate.”

Even as student publications tackled current events and weathered controversies, they remained an important resource for professional training, maintaining university transparency and offering commentary about local events.

For Hays, the student coverage also provided an irreplaceable window into the university’s history.

“It’s all reflected in the newspaper. That’s where I found all this out,” Hays said.

"When you work as a journalist, you represent the public's right to know many kinds of information, and people in charge of that information can be difficult to deal with or outright resistant to the public's right to know. To be effective, you have to keep pressing for information the public is entitled to know, against any resistance. It requires some courage or boldness, as well as strategy and tactics.

That's the kind of journalism I've done for more than 30 years—often investigative, pressing against resistance. In the process I've come up with two principles I adhere to: Be accurate above all else (don't let people tell lies in your stories), and don't hurt people who don't deserve to be hurt (limit the collateral damage when you're nailing somebody who's guilty of some transgression). 

Ray Ring (Jour’79)
Former senior editor at High Country News

Sleeping on Mail Sacks

For Bob Ewegen (Jour’68), working at the Colorado Daily wasn’t as much of a student activity as it was a way of life.

“I didn't honestly go to 91¶ĚĘÓƵ so much as I went to The Daily. I learned my trade there,” said Ewegen, who worked as a reporter, news editor, gadfly editor and editor-in-chief of the publication.

Some of his biggest articles and editorials revolved around student activism, like the successful battles to end a women-only curfew on campus and to ensure greater disability access for campus buildings during the Vietnam War, he recalled.

“[Student journalism] is somewhere between a coming-of-age ceremony and a holy crusade,” Ewegen said.

He even played a part in a classic 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Boulder tale that made national headlines: the renaming of the campus grill after Alferd Packer, aka “Tłó±đ Colorado Cannibal.” Ewegen, who was working at the United Press International’s Denver bureau, slipped the story onto the news wires.

The story spread quickly, offering the nation an opportunity to laugh during the tumult of 1968—the year of the Tet Offensive, My Lai massacre, and the assassinations of Martin Luther King Jr. and Robert Kennedy.

Ewegen had a 41-year career in professional journalism. Looking back, he treasured his time at the student publication: It was his best opportunity to learn through mistakes in an industry that doesn’t accept any.

“You never learn a damn thing through success. It’s failures that drive successes along,” Ewegen said.

Students help produce 91¶ĚĘÓƵ TV on Jan. 15, 1978. (91¶ĚĘÓƵ Heritage Center Archives)

91¶ĚĘÓƵ TV in production Jan. 15, 1978. (91¶ĚĘÓƵ Heritage Center Archives)

The Red Pen

Pete Baumgartner started his studies at 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Boulder in the business school. After one year, he switched to journalism and never looked back.

Baumgartner quickly joined the student newsroom as a reporter at a new campus publication, The Campus Press. The Press formed about 10 years after the Colorado Daily left campus in 1970 and became a community newspaper. Students produced The Campus Press as part of a journalism course, publishing new editions twice a week and filling the gap left by The Daily.

At The Campus Press, Baumgartner focused his attention primarily on sports stories and became the sports editor in 1990. He still remembers writing about Sal Aunese, the quarterback of the football team who was diagnosed with stomach cancer.

“He died about halfway through the season. But they had an incredible year—they went to the Orange Bowl—and they always were saying it was for Sal,” Baumgartner said. “It was so very emotional, and everyone was always pulling for Sal. I was writing all the stories about how he was doing and whether he was going to get better or not.”

Students working on The Campus Press dealt with tight, unshiftable print deadlines. And if they made a mistake, it lived on in the newspaper edition. No one could hop into online stories and update a typo, he said.

After the newspaper was published, the would mark up stories in a red pen—in front of the entire class. It was tough to see your stories covered in red, but the advisor taught students how to write and get the facts straight, Baumgartner said.

“Tłó±đ Campus Press allowed me to show my skills and assured me that I have a future in that profession,” said Baumgartner, who worked for the Rocky Mountain News and Longmont Daily-Times Call before moving to Europe. “It’s really just so incredibly valuable to have things like that [student news outlets] at a university.”

"I have learned that the best journalism begins at the intersection of evidence and instinct. As a journalist, I report for weeks—sometimes months—on a story, compiling interviews and research so I understand the topic thoroughly. Then once I've absorbed what I learned and feel like I have a complete understanding, I switch to my more creative, instinctual right brain and sit down to write.   

Linda Villarosa (Jour’81)
Journalism educator and contributing writer for The New York Times Magazine

 Every story is a building process. So is your career. Starting out might seem intimidating because it is intimidating. But the more you learn and report and write, the better the story will be. Same with your career. The more stories you report and the more years of experience you gain, the more you branch out, grow and establish yourself."

Brent Schrotenboer (Jour’96)
Sports investigative journalist at USA Today

The Grind

In 2009, The Campus Press changed its name to the 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Independent, a step toward independence for the student-led publication.

Along with its name, the newspaper’s operation changed. It would no longer operate within a course setting: Student editors intended to become “a solely independent product” and planned to move off campus, according to a fall 2008 memo from the editors to journalism faculty. Still, they continued to receive some funding from the journalism school, as well as staff support and office space for the next decade.

In 2018, Anna Haynes (PolSci;Jour’22) jumped into reporting in her first week of college. She as a staff writer, and in early 2019, she began to take on editing roles, ultimately becoming the paper’s editor-in-chief in May 2020.

“I’ve definitely made a lot of my closest friends at the 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Independent,” Haynes said. “We felt very connected through [our newsroom], through just the mutual struggle of being student reporters and wanting to get into the journalism field, which is a hard field to get into.”

The year 2020 changed everything about Haynes’ experience as a student reporter.

Early in 2020, Haynes started noticing posters calling a crisis pregnancy clinic on campus “fake.” Her interest was peaked: She into the center and found it was spreading medical misinformation about abortion safety. It was one of her most memorable stories, she said.

“That led—and I don’t know if anything came out of this—to somebody at the 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Student Government proposing that there be some sort of measure that prevents registered student organizations on campus from spreading medical misinformation,” Haynes said.

Weeks after her story published, campus shut down due to safety precautions during the coronavirus pandemic. Students no longer worked together in the tiny newsroom; instead they reported, wrote, edited and managed news stories remotely. But the team pulled together to make sure their quality of coverage didn’t change, she said.

The newsroom was simultaneously navigating another change: its operations within CMCI.

The college was interested in returning to a faculty mentorship model for the student publication, similar to The Campus Press; however, in 2018, 91¶ĚĘÓƵI said it did not want to have a co-curricular function, according to journalism department records. In late 2019, CMCI decided to create a new media enterprise—a newsroom with co-curricular ties to the journalism program and strong focuses on faculty mentorship and media innovation—based on feedback from alumni, students, faculty and college leaders.

The decision changed the relationship between CMCI and 91¶ĚĘÓƵI. The transition included a funding drawdown over 2020, the conversion of its office space to a much-needed classroom, and the end of its formal staff support position, although staff continued to help informally in 2020.

For the college, the shift provided an opportunity for its students to practice journalism in a media laboratory with strong faculty support and for the existing student newspaper to step further into its desired administrative and editorial independence.

For 91¶ĚĘÓƵI students, several of whom were not involved in the initial discussions, the transition felt sudden. It was a tense and stressful time. As editor-in-chief, Haynes suddenly worried about legal rights and vulnerabilities, like lawsuits. She found herself managing web hosting, partnering with news aggregator apps and running a fundraising campaign—on top of her studies and editing duties.

Now, the paper is still seeking a permanent source of funding even as it continues to cover campus news, Haynes said. Looking back, she was impressed with how the newsroom came together during the funding challenges, the pandemic, and the 2021 mass shooting in Boulder, which Haynes personally witnessed.

“My managing editors, the news editors and the photographers did really great, comprehensive coverage of it without me,” Haynes said. “I thought that was a huge testament to how professional, thoughtful and great student reporters can be during times like that.”

Her time at the 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Independent was like an intensive program in leadership, team collaboration, hard work and getting the job done. But while at 91¶ĚĘÓƵI, she also learned how important her work as a student journalist was to her campus and regional community.

“I was thinking of my work as just publishing stories because it was a thing I did for my resume,” said Haynes, who is pursuing a career in publishing. “After we saw all the public support that we had, I realized that this really was something that people wanted—good student coverage—and it was something people valued. It was something I was doing that was important on a larger scale.” 

"Refine and perfect your listening skills. A good listener asks good questions and earns the trust and respect of others.

First impressions do matter. There are countless heartbreaking and unthinkable events that can and will happen. The worst day of someone else’s life can lead to various reactions and interactions. A kind professional approach, along with a little grace, will go a long way. People may not remember what you said or how you said it, but they will never forget a negative experience.

Find a mentor and never stop learning from other journalists. This is a collaborative business, and when we lift each other up, we become far more successful. 

Kim Christiansen (Jour’84)
News anchor at 9News Denver

Journalism students Tayler Shaw (Jour, Span’21) and Lauren Irwin (Jour'22) conduct an interview in 2021. Photo by Andrew Patra (MediaSt'20)

"Internships are your key to getting a job in journalism. More than your journalism classes and more than your work on the student paper, an internship in a solid, daily newsroom will teach you what you need to know to decide if this is the career for you. You will get thrown into stories you would have never thought you'd be covering, and you'll be scared and uncomfortable, and it will be great. You'll grow as a journalist and as a human. 

Elizabeth Hernandez (Jour’15)
Enterprise reporter at The Denver Post

91¶ĚĘÓƵ NewsTeam student edits media in 2020. Photo by Kimberly Coffin (CritMed, StratComm’18)

Zoom-ing Through the News

In early 2020—just before the COVID-19 pandemic lurched into Colorado and shut down the state—journalism faculty approached Tayler Shaw (Jour, Span’21) and a handful of other student journalists about helping to build a new media enterprise in the college.

Shaw jumped at the opportunity. She wanted to dive into student journalism, to team up with other students, and to try something innovative. After months of work and planning, the team in August 2020. Part of its vision is to one day form a media collaborative with longstanding student news outlets, like Radio 1190 and NewsTeam Boulder.

The online publication features stories about campus events and issues, politics, sports and current events. The Bold also has a magazine section for long-form and themed content. As magazine editor-in-chief, Shaw helped produce 10 magazine editions during the 2020–21 academic year.

, 91¶ĚĘÓƵ students wrote their own stories about their mental health journeys, whether it was experiencing anxiety, eating disorders or other mental health needs. The student writers also read their work to create an audio version, Shaw said.

“Especially during the pandemic, which was so isolating for people, it helped bring more awareness that people are not alone when they’re going through mental health struggles,” she said. “I also thought it was so powerful to actually listen to someone tell their own story at the same time.”

At The Bold, Shaw delegated stories, mentored young journalists, edited articles and multimedia elements, published the work online and pushed it out on social media platforms—all while jumping between Zoom meetings and helping to manage a remote newsroom during the pandemic.

Those responsibilities helped her land an internship with The Denver Post, where she honed her skills in daily news as the city desk intern. After finishing her degree, Shaw took on a new role as a reporter with Colorado Community Media.

“I think my experience at The Bold helped me in every way in my current position,” Shaw said.

For students, the best way to learn journalism is by doing it, and student publications provide the freedom to be creative and innovative. And for other students on campus, it’s more engaging to read news produced by peers in your own community, she said.

“When people are more aware of what’s happening, they’re more likely to engage in certain issues and ask important questions. It just creates a more connected, informed and thriving community when you have that type of campus publication,” Shaw said. “Who is more invested in figuring out what’s really going on than the people who are also impacted by the campus themselves? That’s why it’s so important that they (students) are storytellers.”

91¶ĚĘÓƵ student photographs a 91¶ĚĘÓƵ football game in 2021. Photo by Kimberly Coffin (CritMed, StratComm’18)

"Journalism, no matter what kind you do, is almost always a hustle. It can involve sleepless nights, sacrifices with friends and loved ones, trauma, stress and burnout. It's easy to sacrifice too much. My advice is to find what excites you in journalism, and to never lose sight of your mental and emotional needs. Find time for yourself, and do what keeps you happy and healthy. 

Nick Mott (MJour’18)

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In addition, 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Independent was honored last December by the Associated Collegiate Press as one of four college news sites to receive the 2016 Online Pacemaker award, the pre-eminent award for collegiate journalism. This was 91¶ĚĘÓƵI’s first time winning the award after being named a finalist in 2015.

“This award is a huge testament to how hard this staff works on a daily basis,” says Xandra McMahon (Jour’17), 91¶ĚĘÓƵI’s former editor-in-chief. “For years we’ve been pushing our creative limits, and this win validates all that hard work.”

McMahon, along with 91¶ĚĘÓƵ Independent colleagues Charlotte Bowditch and Jordyn Siemens, earned the best online in-depth reporting award for their piece, “.”

Fellow staffer Dani Pinkus earned the award for best online opinion and commentary for her .

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