THE DIAMONDBACK

'''The Diamondback''' is the independent student newspaper of the University of Maryland, College Park. It was founded in 1910 as ''The Triangle'' and renamed in 1921 in honor of a local reptile, the Diamondback terrapin (the terrapin became the official school mascot in 1933). The newspaper is published daily Monday through Friday during academic sessions and once a week during the summer, with a print circulation of 17,000 and annual advertising revenues of over $1 million. ^[1]
The paper's current independent status was originally intended as punishment — the Board of Regents cut off student funding after ''The Diamondback's'' actions in 1971, when it ran two pages blank in protest of campus censorship and placed tombstones on its editorial page in protest of the Vietnam War. ^[2]

Contents

Sections

Editorial Line

Awards

Controversy

Alumni

Journalists

Cartoonists

References

External links

Sections

''The Diamondback'' is split into four sections:

'News' - The news section covers both on- and off-campus news, specifically in the region of College Park, Maryland, but also expands coverage to Annapolis, Maryland when the state's legislature is in session.

'Opinion' - The editorial section contains ''The Diamondback's'' editorial, op-eds and letters to the editor, and editorial cartoons.

'Diversions' - The entertainment section contains reviews of movies and music, as well as concerts and plays around the College Park region.

'Sports' - The sports section covers University of Maryland athletics, including men's basketball and football.

Editorial Line

The editorial page of ''The Diamondback'' has a general stance of free market Libertarianism. This philosophy is seen in its opposition to rent control, calls for privatization, opposition to tax hikes and inclination for the university to decrease reliance on public funding, and support of a resolution to relax marijuana penalities on campus.
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Awards

For the 2005-2006 school year, ''The Diamondback'' received a Mark of Excellence award from the Society of Professional Journalists, placing 3rd nationally for Best All-Around Daily Student Newspaper and placing first in its region in the same category.

Controversy

The paper has recently become involved in the D.C. Madam scandal, when it was revealed that the escort service operated by Deborah Jeane Palfrey advertised openly for employees in the Diamondback.^[8]

Alumni

Journalists

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 having made serious reporting errors and for acting irresponsibly. A letter signed by 30 former ''Diamondback'' staffers regarding the situation with Blair also complained about the lack of involvement by the board which owns the paper.[1][2]

★ Larry Weisman (sports editor in the early 1970s), a journalist at ''USA Today''.

★ Norman Chad (editor-in-chief in 1978), an ESPN columnist and World Series of Poker commentator.

★ Dave Iannone (associate editor, various positions, mid-1990's), Founder of major web portal Firehouse.com.

★ David Simon, author of '' and ''The Corner''. Simon later created the TV series '' and ''The Wire'', as well as the mini-series, ''The Corner''.

★ Gary Gately, a former Baltimore Sun editor and reporter and freelancer for The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

★ 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, according to The Internet Movie Database. He also wrote several episodes of and ER. In 2003, he created Kingpin (TV series), an NBC miniseries. He has won two Emmy Awards.

Cartoonists

★ 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.

★ Frank Cho's strip ''Liberty Meadows'' started as a cartoon strip called ''University²'' for ''The Diamondback.''

References

1. http://www.rcfp.org/news/documents/20020530rossignolv.html
2. http://collegefreedom.org/newspaper.htm
3. Staff Editorial: Misplaced efforts
4. Staff Editorial: Privatize Dining Services
5. Editorial - Shelve the tax raise proposal
6. Staff Editorial: Graduating to courageous governance
7. Staff Editorial: Co-opted?
8. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/05/04/AR2007050402097.html

External links

★ Official website of ''The Diamondback''

★ Official website of the University of Maryland