O B J E C T I V E S A N D AC T I V I T I E S : N OV. 1 8 , 2 0 1 5

THE DALHOUSIE GAZETTE PUBLISHING SOCIETY

OBJECTIVESWHY ARE WE HERE?

WHO WE ARE

• Canada’s longest-running student newspaper, since 1868

• 3000 print issues distributed across 50 spots on campus and a few dozen every Friday in the academic year

• Dalgazette.com, @dalgazette, facebook.com/dalgazette

• Mandate: “To publish a democratically-run newspaper with the purpose of providing information on, and an impartial analysis of, a broad range of subject matter for Dalhousie Students and the surrounding community at large.”

WHAT WE DO

• Mandate: “To provide mentorship and training to student writers and journalists, through a skilled staff of university students and young professionals.”

• Mandate: “To provide an open forum for free expression of ideas and opinion, in order to stimulate meaningful debate.”

• Writers, photographers, artists from Dalhousie, King’s, surrounding communities

• News, Arts, Opinions and Sports sections are training and experience for volunteers and editors, entertaining and educational stories for readers

OUR OPERATIONS

• Student levy: $3.10 per semester for fulltime DSU members, $2.35 per semester for part time DSU members• Levy: approx. $123,000, May ‘14/April ‘15• Advertising: approx. $29,000, May ‘14/April ‘15• Paid staff: Editor-in-chief, Managing Editor, Photo

Manager, Art Director, four section editors• 2014/15: more than 100 volunteer writers,

photographers, artists• Publishing board

PUBLISHING BOARD

• New as of September• Accessible at board@dalgazette.com (listed on

dalgazette.com)• Manages hiring board, processes complaints, holds

editor-in-chief and staff accountable, oversees finances• Composed of one Dal or King’s faculty member, four

DSU members, a chair (DSU member), member of the professional media, editor-in-chief, one other staff member

• Public meetings at least three times per semester• Next meeting: Oct. 26, time and location TBA at

@dalgazette

ACTIVITIESHOW ARE WE ACCOMPLISHING OUR

OBJECTIVES?

WORK SINCE JULY

• Working out of the old Travel Cuts office• Recruiting volunteers and promoting awareness

through class talks, society fairs• Coordinating volunteers online, on the phone• September: new constitution, publishing board

established• Staff hired in late October• Weekly contributor meetings will resume next

semester

COVERAGE FROM THIS YEAR

• 2015 Federal Election• Society/group opinions: DalOUT, PLANifax, Divest

Dal• Stories about student initiatives: DSU, CKDU,

political party societies• Stories about research: Ingrid Waldron and

environmental racism, Marcia Chatelain and #FergusonSyllabus

• Service stories: DSU request for tuition fee decisions denied, International students face difficulties finding med school elective placements, Killam computers not automatically deleting data

HOW WE DECIDE WHAT TO COVER

• Story ideas come from students, professors, volunteers, community members• Publishing board handles ethics complaints• Reaching out to society executives, DSU

councillors• Subscriptions to society newsletters• Ultimately, depth and range of coverage is

determined by volunteers

CO

MM

UN

ITY-B

UILD

ING

&

SO

CIA

L MED

IA

B UZ Z F E E D F O L LO W S T H E C AT F O O D M Y S T E RY

COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

I N - D E P T H I N T E RV I E W W I T H DA N

COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

E L E C T I O N I N T E RV I E W S : 2 6 S T U D E N T S F R O M A C R O S S H A L I FA X

COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

F I R S T P O S T- E L E C T I O N I N T E RV I E W W I T H A N DY F I L L M O R E

COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

A RC H I V E S S E C T I O N

COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

C BC LO O K S AT T H E F R E E F O O D D I E T C H A L L E N G E

COVERAGE HIGHLIGHTS

SOME PLANS

• Paying contributors• Weekly contributor meetings resume in new

society hub• Meeting for those interested in being editors: Nov.

25, 2015 (time and location TBA at @dalgazette)• Consistent communication with DSU executives• Revisit distribution plan: more issues off-campus• Survey: what do students want from the Gazette?• Bring back the weekly “Streeter” feature• Rebranding

150-YEAR ANNIVERSARY LOOMS

• Strike committee of alumni and students to prepare for a volume 150 celebration in 2017• Branded as “North America’s Oldest Campus

Newspaper”• Are we “Canada’s Longest-Running Student

Newspaper” or “The Longest-Running Student Newspaper in the Universe”?• The Dartmouth at Dartmouth College: est. 1799,

only named “The Dartmouth” in 1839, starts publishing weekly instead of irregularly in 1875

$50/STUDENT LEVY CAMPAIGN

• Increase our levy to $50/student• Seems ridiculous – but compare it to $1000 increases for King’s FYP,

$1,620 increases for some SMU degrees, 37% increases for NSCAD BFA, upcoming increases to Dal Engineering and Dentistry

• With $1mil/yr the Gazette can: • distribute 20,000 copies across HRM• distribute to every university in Canada• distribute to coffee shops in Brooklyn and Bushwick• pay volunteers and editors more in stand against austerity• hire beat reporters on women’s issues, LGBTQIA+ issues, race issues, labour,

DSU, Dal BoG, Senate, sex, food• switch to delivery bicycles for more sustainable delivery• train volunteers in PGP and TOR, host Canadian University Press conference in

Halifax Convention Centre• New stories daily, videos weekly, radio show• Increase recruitment and reputation to Dal: we have the biggest, best and

longest-running student newspaper in the universe

• Compare those changes to current changes with proposed fee hikes• We hold everyone accountable = fewer fee hikes in future

QUESTIONS & HOW TO GET INVOLVED

• Jesse Ward, Editor-in-chief: editor@dalgazette.com• Publishing Board: board@dalgazette.com• Email our editors: dalgazette.com/contact-us/