About

The Department of Student Media at ASU is a part of University Student Initiatives and works closely with the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and other colleges and programs to offer opportunities to students interested in journalism and media professions.

Student Media provides the university community with news, information and a forum for the exchange of ideas, while also providing an educational learning environment for students.

Student Media properties include the State Press newspaper, StatePress.com, State Press Magazine, and State Press Television. Each of these is managed and staffed by ASU students with advice and training from professional employees and journalism faculty. Students make all final editorial decisions and take full responsibility for editorial content.

While working at Student Media, students gain practical experience as reporters, writers, editors, Web developers, designers, photographers, producers, directors, videographers, salespeople, and business managers.

Student Media generates 90 percent or more of its own revenue, making it a largely self-supporting department. Salaries, equipment, phones, supplies and other essentials are paid out of department revenues.

History

Student-produced media has been part of the Arizona State experience since 1890, when the first student publication debuted as a one-page supplement to what is now the East Valley Tribune. The student newspaper officially became the Arizona State Press in 1936, with the motto “Watchdog of the Student Body.”

Today

The State Press is distributed in print to all four of ASU’s campuses and digitally, worldwide, via StatePress.com, twitter.com/statepress and Facebook.com/TheStatePress.

Statepress.com includes State Press articles, plus exclusive online and multimedia content.

State Press TV is an online video operation that produces news, entertainment, and sports content.

State Press Magazine (SPM) is an online magazine that focuses on feature writing and in-depth reporting.

Each semester the Department of Student Media employs over 100 students in paid and non-paid positions. The editor-in-chief of The State Press, the editor of State Press Magazine, and the general manager of State Press TV are chosen each semester by the Student Media Advisory Board, which is made up of Cronkite School faculty and other journalism professionals, a representative from University Student Initiatives and undergraduate and graduate students. Once appointed, these student leaders hire and supervise other student staffers.

The State Press has consistently been rated among the best college newspapers in the country. In 2004, 2005 and 2006, the Columbia Scholastic Press Association named The State Press a Gold Crown and Silver Crown winner, respectively — the highest awards given to college newspapers. The State Press also was honored in 2005 with the Payne Award for Ethics in Journalism, a prestigious national award given to one college paper each year for its commitment to ethics. Student journalists working for The State Press consistently place in the prestigious Hearst awards for college journalism students and sweep the Society of Professional Journalism regional awards.

In 2009 The Society of Professional Journalists named StatePress.com one the best three college newspaper Web sites in the country.

The majority of students involved in Student Media are majors in the Cronkite School. Student Media Director Jason Manning is also a member of the faculty at the Cronkite School.

For more information on Student Media, contact Manning at jason.manning@asu.edu.