The Daily Free Press

The Daily Free Press
School Boston University Slogan "The independent student newspaper at Boston University" Nickname(s) The FreeP
Editor(s)	Chris Lisinski (Editor‑in‑Chief) Sofiya Mahdi (Managing Editor) Margaret Waterman (Campus Editor) Kyle Plantz (City Editor) Brian Latimer (Opinion Editor) Sarah Kirkpatrick (Sports Editor) Sarah Fisher (Photo Editor) Michelle Jay (Multimedia Editor) Christina Janansky (Features Editor) Brooke Jackson-Glidden (MUSE Editor)
Location	Boston, Massachusetts
Founded	May 5, 1970
Owner	The Back Bay Publishing Co.
Frequency	Daily
Price	Free
Circulation	5,000 Monday–Thursday
Format	Tabloid
ISSN	1094-7337
Printer	Turley Publications, Inc.
Mailing address	Kenmore Square, Boston
Website: The Daily Free Press

The Daily Free Press is the independent student newspaper at Boston University. It publishes a daily print edition Monday through Thursday during the academic year and online 24/7 at dailyfreepress.com. The Daily Free Press is staffed by about 50 editors, writers, reporters and photographers, many but not all of whom are BU journalism students, who work on a volunteer basis and change over each semester. The paper is governed by a board of former editors who make up the Board of Directors of Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc., a Massachusetts non-profit.

Commonly called The FreeP, The Daily Free Press began publishing May 5, 1970 in response to violent student protests on campus in the wake of the Kent State shootings. It is now the publication at BU with the longest continuing run.

Overview

The Daily Free Press had published an issue every instructional day since its formation until February 13, 2009. In light of increasingly tight finances for newspapers and declining advertising revenue, the paper announced it would discontinue its Friday issue. As of September 2011, circulation was 5,000 issues per day Monday through Thursday. The publication is currently the fourth largest daily English newspaper in the Boston metropolitan area.

The Daily Free Press has won numerous awards for its reporting, including the Columbia Press Association's Gold Medal Award for Excellence. The paper covers campus news, local (Boston-area) news, and campus sports, and publishes editorials, columns, and letters each day. In January 1980, the Arts and Entertainment coverage became The MUSE, the FreeP's weekly A&E publication. Science Tuesday, the first collegiate weekly science section in the country, began in the 1990s. The FreeP also began publishing a news, arts and opinion blog in 2011.

The editorial staff of the FreeP is strictly volunteer. All writers, photographers and business staffers are BU students, with the exception of the office manager. Members of the editorial board work nights to put out the paper and regularly work 50 hours per week, in addition to their classes.

Every issue has a daily crossword puzzle and sudoku for students to complete.

Many alumni have gone on to careers in journalism, television and film, and a few have won the Pulitzer Prize.

The Daily Free Press Online

Since January 1996, The Daily Free Press Online has been published at dailyfreepress.com every day that the print publication is distributed. The most recent online readership figures for the online edition are 28,000 weekly user sessions and 120,000 monthly page views.

Finances

In 2011, Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc., the governing body of The Daily Free Press, announced that it had paid off a $78,000 debt to its printers Turley Publications, Inc. by way of an advertising advance from the Boston University Dean of Students office. This came after the 2009 discontinuation of Friday editions to cut down on costs. Though some have expressed concerns about the paper's independence in the wake of the financial announcement, the paper continues to be entirely student-run and the university has no control over its content.

Notable Daily Free Press Alumni

Some of the editors and writers of the Free Press who have gone on to successful careers in the media include:

• David Barboza, a Beijing-based correspondent at The New York Times;
• Jim Bourg, Photographer/Photo Editor, Reuters
• Mark Cardwell, Managing Editor, Digital Media, The Denver Post
• Andrew Cohen, Denver-based lawyer and the CBS News legal affairs correspondent;
• Gabriel Donio, owner and publisher of The Hammonton Gazette
• Ian Donnis, an editor and media critic at The Providence Phoenix;
• Bruce Feirstein, an author, magazine writer and screenwriter;
• Ian Fisher, the Rome correspondent at The New York Times;
• Dan Forst, Staff writer at San Francisco Chronicle (now freelance)
• David Wainer, Israel-based correspondent for Bloomberg News
• Steve Gelsi, reporter at CBSMarketWatch.
• Larry Hackett, managing editor, People magazine
• Joseph T. Hallinan, an author and 1991 Pulitzer Prize-winner for work done at the Indianapolis Star, currently Wall Street Journal reporter ;
• Ray Henry, reporter, Associated Press
• Gerald Herbert, staff photographer, The Associated Press
• Matthew Horovitz, television producer;
• Vivian Ho, of the San Francisco Chronicle
• Kenneth Irby, photographer, Group Leader & Diversity Director, The Poynter Institute.
• Jeff Kline, an award-winning producer of children's TV programs;
• Larry Lebowitz, reporter, The Miami Herald
• Mike Mokrzycki, independent consultant/manager of election polling, NBC News; former director of polling, The Associated Press
• Bill O'Reilly, television personality and journalist;
• Don Van Natta, Jr., an author and member of The New York Times staff receiving the Pulitzer Prize in 1999 & 2002;
• Jessica Van Sack, chief enterprise reporter, the Boston Herald
• Chris Nagi, managing editor, Bloomberg News
• Onell R. Soto, part of Pulitzer Prize-winning team at The San Diego Union-Tribune.
• Lisa Anne Auerbach, artist and recognized as one of the best American travel writers.
• Narendra Nandoe, Chief of the Publishing Section at the United Nations in New York.
• Elizabeth Weinberg, award-winning editorial and commercial freelance photographer
• Jessica Kribbs, scotch connoisseur, 1 %er
• Neal Simpson, professional football player
• Chloe Gotsis, fashionista, muffin

Significant Stories/Editorials in The Daily Free Press' History

The Daily Free Press has at times drawn widespread attention for its coverage of, and opinions about, local issues.

The following are some of the articles and editorials that, for brief moments, brought citywide, and sometimes national, attention to The Daily Free Press.

• In 1988, The Daily Free Press writers Roger Ochoa and Chris Nagi covered the Ramones rally attended by more than 1500 students in protest of the university's ban on the historic rock 'n' roll band..

• In 1990, The Daily Free Press supported John Silber's opponent in the Democratic primary for Massachusetts governor. Silber, then on leave from his position as President of Boston University, was a dark horse primary winner and showed strong momentum in the campaign until its very last days.

• In 2003, The Daily Free Press covered the board's tumultuous decision not to allow president-elect Daniel Goldin to take the job.
  • !!!!Goldin, BU part ways

• In 2004, The Daily Free Press covered the launching of Facebook.com before it became a national phenomenon.
  • BU newest addition to thefacebook.com

• In 2004, The Daily Free Press reported from inside the State House as the Legislature debated a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage.
  • Civil Union Compromise
  • Editorial: Amendment is a setback
  • Protesters take State House by storm

• In 2004, The Daily Free Press reported on the ground from Kenmore Square after the Boston Red Sox won their first World Series in 86 years. The riots that followed led to citywide legislation imposing strict penalties on students who commit crimes off campus.
  • Sox Celebrations Marred
  • Sox Sweep Cards to End Curse

• In 2004, The Daily Free Press reported from the press gallery at John Kerry's election night campaign rally in Copley Square. The FreeP's earlier coverage of "Votergasm," a controversial voter registration drive in which participants pledged to abstain from sex with non-voters, was cited by Rush Limbaugh on his radio show.
  • Copley dejected at early results; Edwards promises the fight is not over
  • Votergasm entices new voters with sex

• In 2005, when two BU students were struck and killed by an MBTA commuter rail train behind Boston University's West Campus, The Daily Free Press coverage and editorial regarding the tragedy were spotlighted throughout the city, including citations by the Boston Globe and Harvard Crimson, among others.
  • Two BU students struck and killed by train
  • Campus reacts to student deaths
  • Editorial: A Time for Grief and Healing

• In 2005, The Boston Globe reported that because of an article in The Daily Free Press, mayoral candidate Maura Hennigan's campaign manager Mitch Kates's job was in question. Kates sparked controversy when he spoke at a meeting of the Boston University College Democrats and denounced mayor Thomas Menino, calling him "a drooling teddy bear" and hurling other such insults. Despite the controversy, The Daily Free Press endorsed Hennigan for mayor.
  • Hennigan aide blasts Menino
  • Hennigan apologizes for aide's remarks

• In 2006, an editorial in The Daily Free Press was cited in the Metro for recommending that the MBTA increase fares even higher than initially proposed in order to significantly improve service.

• In 2009, The Daily Free Press discovered that the Boston University administration was dealing with the H1N1 pandemic by actively isolating and moving students with influenza-like symptoms into dormitories with healthy students without informing the residents of the introduced risk. While the administration was following the Centers for Disease Control's isolation recommendations, students protested the lack of administration's lack of transparency in dealing with the epidemic. Students who were isolated also complained of poor treatment.
  • Rooms set aside in Danielsen for students with flu-like symptoms
  • Student experiences shortfalls in BU swine flu protocol, cut off from food and fluids while isolated
  • Flu isolation policy not transparent, students say
  • Students protest H1N1 isolation on floors with communal bathrooms

• In 2009, The Daily Free Press provided extensive coverage of the Boston mayoral election, bringing candidates into the newsroom for in-depth interviews that later led to an endorsement of City Councilor-At-Large Michael Flaherty and his running mate, City Councilor-At-Large Sam Yoon.
  • Menino 'positive' on win
  • 'Floon' challenges incumbent
  • STAFF EDIT: Progressing from the machine
  • Flaherty, Yoon to run on joint ticket
  • From Menino: 'a city that works for everyone'
  • Flaherty: 'I subscribe to our Boston'
  • Anti-politician McCrea demands total transparency
  • Yoon pledges change if elected
  • STAFF EDIT: A call for change

Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc

Back Bay Publishing Co., Inc., is a nonprofit Massachusetts corporation operated by Boston University students. It publishes the student paper The Daily Free Press.