The Tufts Daily

The Tufts Daily, known on campus simply as the Daily, is the student newspaper at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts. The paper covers news, arts, and sports both on campus and in the Boston area and allows members of the Tufts community to submit op-ed pieces about campus and global issues. Unlike other student organizations and publications at Tufts, the Daily is financially self-sustaining and does not receive funding from the student activities fee.[1] Tufts is currently the smallest college or university in the United States to have an independent daily student newspaper.[2][3]

The Tufts Daily
The Tufts Daily, September 25, 2014
TypeDaily student newspaper
FormatTabloid
PublisherTCI Press
Editor-in-chiefMegan Szostak
Associate editorLiz Shelbred
Colton Wolk
Managing editorAlejandra Carrillo
Ethan Steinberg
Directors of production and businessYanqing Huang
Evelyn McClure
FoundedFebruary 25, 1980 (1980-02-25)
Headquarters474 Boston Avenue
Medford, Massachusetts 02155
Websitewww.tuftsdaily.com

History

The first issue of The Tufts Daily was published on February 25, 1980.[4] During the Daily's first two decades, it was engaged in competition with a weekly campus newspaper, the Tufts Observer.[5] The two newspapers co-existed until 2001, when The Observer changed to a biweekly news magazine format.[6] The Daily announced in September 2018 that it would no longer print Friday issues and would instead publish Friday content online only in response to financial constraints.[7]

The Daily made national headlines in November 2017 after publishing a series of op-eds written by Camilo A. Caballero, a graduate student at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, which voiced support for a student-led petition to remove former White House Communications Director Anthony Scaramucci from The Fletcher School's Board of Advisors. Caballero wrote that Scaramucci's "career and ideals are diametrically opposed to those ideas and who sullies the vision of the University."[8] Claiming defamation, Scaramucci threatened to sue the Daily if it did not retract parts of the op-eds and demanded that both the paper and Caballero issue public apologies.[9] Scaramucci resigned from the Board of Advisors on November 28 after the paper refused to comply with his demands, stating, "I thought it would be better for the school and better for me personally if we parted ways."[10]

On November 1, 2018, the Daily broke a national story about the appearance of posters linked to white nationalism on college campuses across the United States.[11] The paper reported that the posters, which were affixed to get-out-the-vote signs on Tufts' campus, bore the phrase "It's okay to be white" — a slogan adopted and promoted by white nationalists, including former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan David Duke.[12]

The Daily published an investigative report in November 2018 detailing over $22 million in donations to Tufts from charitable organizations with histories of funding academically and racially controversial research, including the Charles Koch Foundation, the John Templeton Foundation, and the Sarah Scaife Foundation.[13] The investigative series, titled "Dark Money at Tufts," cited examples in which the organizations have been given influence over hiring decisions and academic curricula after donating to other universities and reported that Tufts administrators and faculty are "often unaware of, or uninterested in, donors’ philanthropic record and relevant interests."[14]

Sections

The Daily has four sections of original editorial content (News, Features, Sports, and Arts), as well as an Opinion section that includes op-ed submissions from community members and regular opinion pieces from the paper's editorial board.

News, features, arts, and sports

The Daily's news section reports on Tufts events, campus politics, and student life. It also offers regular stories on community issues in Medford and Somerville.

The features section typically contains two to three articles offering more detailed perspective on student life and trends in academia, at Tufts and nationwide. It also publishes profiles of Tufts faculty and students.

The arts section of the paper has been expanding. Beginning as a single article in the paper's first issue in 1980, the arts section now runs three to four articles each day, covering on- and off-campus events. From 1987 until 2002, Arts ran its "Weekender" supplement once a week as an insert magazine. The Weekender was relaunched as part of the paper, rather than an insert, and typically includes a lengthy profile of a local event, exhibition, or artist. It appears inside Thursday's paper.

The sports section provides in-depth coverage of the school's varsity teams and occasionally reports on club and intramural sports. Tufts athletes are regularly profiled, while issues and trends in major professional sports are covered in weekly columns.

Opinion and editorial

The Daily's opinion section accepts submissions from all members of the Tufts community on any campus, national, or global issue. It has become an important platform for campus debate, with particularly controversial pieces often leading to a series of back-and-forth op-eds. Until fall 2007, it was known as the Viewpoints section. As part of the merger of the Viewpoints and Editorial departments, the Viewpoints name was retired.

The paper has traditionally run several editorials per week. Editorials are unsigned and, as such, represent the opinions of the Daily.

Notable alumni

References
  1. Sauer, Anne; Branco, Jessica; Bennett, John; Crowley, Zachary (2000). "Tufts Daily, 1980". Concise Encyclopedia of Tufts History.
  2. "The Tufts Daily". Muck Rack. Retrieved January 6, 2021.
  3. "Letter from the Managing Board: Celebrating 40 years". The Tufts Daily. February 25, 2020.
  4. "Tufts Daily, February 25, 1980". The Tufts Daily. February 25, 1980. hdl:10427/10257.
  5. Miller, Russell (1986). Light on the Hill: A History of Tufts University Since 1952. 2. Cambridge, MA: MassMarket Books. p. 232.
  6. "Remade 'Observer' marks new era in campus media". The Tufts Daily. September 1, 2001. Retrieved November 27, 2017.
  7. "Letter from the Managing Board: Renewing our commitment to inclusivity, sustainability". The Tufts Daily. September 19, 2018.
  8. Caballero, Camilo A. (November 6, 2017). "Op-Ed: Seeking power of values over power of money". The Tufts Daily.
  9. "Claiming defamation, lawyer for Anthony Scaramucci demands retractions from Daily op-eds". The Tufts Daily. November 27, 2017.
  10. Astor, Maggie (November 28, 2017). "Anthony Scaramucci Quits Tufts Advisory Board After Tangling With Student Paper". The New York Times.
  11. "As U.S. election nears racist fliers, antisemitic graffiti appear". Reuters. November 2, 2018.
  12. "Posters linked to white nationalism appear on get-out-the-vote signs across campus". The Tufts Daily. November 1, 2018.
  13. Nickerson, David. "Dark Money at Tufts". The Tufts Daily.
  14. Nickerson, David (November 28, 2018). "Part 3: Tufts policies fail to assess donors' controversial histories, motives". The Tufts Daily.
  15. Schmidt, Kathleen (October 16, 2014). "Journalist panel examines scandal, inequality in professional sports". The Tufts Daily. Retrieved January 8, 2019.
  16. "Patrick Healy to Join Culture as Deputy Editor, News". The New York Times. September 30, 2016.
  17. "About". The Tufts Daily. Archived from the original on August 26, 2018.
  18. Choe, Jonathan (November 27, 2017). "Found this gem hanging inside the @TuftsDaily newsroom. @Scaramucci contributed to the student paper back in the day. The Mooch was on point with his analysis of the upcoming 1983-84 #NBA season.pic.twitter.com/T77v70Stzc". @choenbcboston.
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