The McGill Daily

The McGill Daily
Type Student-run media group
Format Tabloid
Owner(s) Daily Publications Society
Publisher Daily Publications Society
Founded 1911
Language English
Headquarters 3480, rue McTavish
Suite B-24
Montreal, Quebec
H3A 1X9
Circulation 6,000 (per issue)
ISSN 1192-4608
Website mcgilldaily.com

The McGill Daily is an independent student newspaper at McGill University and is entirely run by students. Despite its name, The Daily has recently reduced its print publication to once a week, normally on Mondays, in addition to producing online-only content and weekly radio segments for CKUT 90.3 FM.

The Daily was originally published daily in 1911. It began as a sports rag in the broadsheet format and has since transitioned to the tabloid format, covering a wide range of issues related to the McGill and greater Montreal community. The paper's content sections are News, Commentary, Culture, Features, Science + Technology, Sports, Unfit to Print (radio and video), and Compendium!.

The Daily strives to represent the voices of those traditionally marginalized, and recognizes that power is unevenly distributed – though not solely – on the basis of gender, age, social class, race, sexuality, religion, ability, and cultural identity. The Daily generally supports grassroots student activism and direct action. Much of its features coverage is devoted to issues of social justice, accessibility, and inequality. The paper's longstanding policy of publishing almost all letters means that dissenting points of view and lively debate occur within the newspaper's pages.

History

The Daily is one of Canada's oldest university publications, continually publishing since the early 1900s.[1] At one time, the paper was even "the oldest daily student newspaper in the Commonwealth".[2]

The Daily has been the training ground for generations of journalists since its inception in 1911. Currently The Daily is one of the largest student newspapers in Canada and is widely read both on the McGill campus and around Montreal. The Daily began as a broadsheet that focused mainly on sports news. Its evolution has taken many directions. Over the years, it has taken stands considered controversial at their times, such as publishing a special issue for International Women’s Day in the late 1970.

The Daily has been independent from student government since 1980. It is published by the Daily Publications Society, an autonomous body whose membership includes all McGill downtown campus undergraduate students except Continuing Education, as well as all graduate students excluding non-residents, graduate medical and graduate dentistry students.

In 2010, the Daily Publications Society proposed raising the non-opt-outable fee from $5 to $6 per semester due to declining ad revenues. A "No Committee" formed by students challenged the fee increase, saying that the money could be better spent on underfunded programs.[3] With a high voter turnout, the referendum passed by 2.6%.[4]

Statement of Principles (SOP)

2.1 The fundamental goal of The McGill Daily shall be to serve as a critical and constructive forum for the exchange of ideas and information relevant to McGill and related communities.

2.2 Within this optic, The Daily recognizes that all events and issues are inherently political, involving relations of social and economic power and privilege. Further, we recognize that power is unevenly distributed, especially – but not solely – on the basis of gender, age, social class, race, sexuality, religion, ability, and cultural identity. We also recognize that keeping silent about these relationships helps to perpetuate oppression. To help correct these inequities, to the best of its ability, The Daily should depict and analyze power relations accurately in its coverage.

2.3 As an autonomous student newspaper, relatively free from commercial and other controls, The Daily can best serve its purposes by examining issues and events most media ignore. In particular, it should deal with the role postsecondary education plays in constructing and maintaining the current order. It should also assist students and other groups working for change in a critical framework, with the aim of giving a voice to individuals and communities marginalized on the basis of the criteria mentioned in section 2.2. The Daily’s non-hierarchal structure serves as a space for education, discussion, and participation. The Daily’s methods should be determined by its staff on the basis of consensus.

2.4 The Daily must remain accessible and accountable, while maintaining its autonomy.

Editorial staff

The McGill Daily is nominally run in a non-hierarchical manner. Editors and staff members have equal voting powers and speaking privileges at editorial board meetings. Each editor is paid a monthly stipend. When the paper was twice-weekly, the amount of the stipend was determined by the frequency of each section's appearance, with editors of sections appearing once weekly receiving half of the amount received by editors of sections appearing twice weekly. With a reduction in frequency of print publication, the allocation of stipends similarly reflects amount of content published, with previously twice-weekly sections publishing more online-only content, and continuing to receive twice the amount of "half" sections.

Past contributors

Some of The Daily's past contributors who have gone on to fame include:

See also

References

  1. ↑ Crighton, Claire & Ginsberg, Josh. "Comment: Committed to free speech since 1911", "The McGill Daily", March 16, 2006. Accessed June 13, 2008.
  2. ↑ "About The McGill Daily", "The McGill Daily", 2009. Accessed October 20, 2009.
  3. ↑ "With ad revenue down, the DPS seeks a fee hike". The McGill Tribune. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
  4. ↑ "Daily Publications Society narrowly passes $1 fee increase". The McGill Tribune. Retrieved 2010-03-29.
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