The ''Daily Emerald'' is the independent, student-run weekly newspaper produced at the
University of Oregon
The University of Oregon (UO, U of O or Oregon) is a public research university in Eugene, Oregon. Founded in 1876, the institution is well known for its strong ties to the sports apparel and marketing firm Nike, Inc, and its co-founder, billion ...
in Eugene, Oregon, United States. Its predecessor, the ''Oregon Daily Emerald'' newspaper, founded in 1899, trained many prominent writers and journalists and made important contributions to journalism case law. Currently, the ''Daily Emerald'' publishes a weekly newspaper.
Publishing
The ''Daily Emerald'' and associated publications, including the quarterly magazine ''Ethos'', are published by the Emerald Media Group. The ''Emerald'' operates quasi-independently of the university with offices in Suite 302 and 305 of the Erb Memorial Union.
History
''State v. Buchanan''
On May 24, 1966, the ''Emerald'' ran a story, "Students Condone Marijuana Use," by author Annette Buchanan, which included seven unnamed sources discussing their drug use. The interviews were granted under the condition that the sources' names would not be revealed. After reading Buchanan's story, local law enforcement officials convened a grand jury investigation into the illegal use of drugs.
On June 1, 1966, the Lane County District Attorney subpoenas Buchanan, requesting names of sources. Buchanan refused and was fined $300 for contempt of court. The case went through the court system until the
Oregon Supreme Court
The Oregon Supreme Court (OSC) is the highest state court in the U.S. state of Oregon. The only court that may reverse or modify a decision of the Oregon Supreme Court is the Supreme Court of the United States.Oregon Constitution protected her. In 1968 the
U.S. Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
shield law
A shield is a piece of personal armour held in the hand, which may or may not be strapped to the wrist or forearm. Shields are used to intercept specific attacks, whether from close-ranged weaponry or projectiles such as arrows, by means of ...
(ORS 44.510 through 44.540). The Oregon Shield Law provides extensive protection for all members of the news and information media. The statute provides absolute protection from compelled disclosure of both sources and all information obtained by journalists in the course of their work. It is not clear whether the journalist must have promised confidentiality for the source of information to be covered by the law. The only exceptions to the Oregon statute exist where: (1) there is probable cause to believe that the journalist has or is about to commit a crime or (2) where the defendant in a defamation suit has asserted a defense based on the content or source of the information.
Fire this…FUCK CENSORSHIP
On Oct. 1, 2007, the Emerald's Monday print edition had its second page swapped with
The Daily Barometer
''The Daily Barometer'' is an independent campus newspaper of Oregon State University, in Corvallis, Oregon. It is published weekly during the fall, winter, and spring quarters, and monthly during the summer.
Also known as The Baro, the news tea ...
— the student newspaper at
Oregon State University
Oregon State University (OSU) is a public land-grant, research university in Corvallis, Oregon. OSU offers more than 200 undergraduate-degree programs along with a variety of graduate and doctoral degrees. It has the 10th largest engineering c ...
. Somehow, The Daily Barometer's second page had ended up in both papers. Kathy Carbone, the paper's business manager at the time, said the printer claimed the swap was accidental, but she believes it was on purpose and said the paper's staff considered it an act of censorship.
The Daily Emerald's second page featured in an opinion piece written by the Emerald's editorial board with the headline “Fire this…FUCK CENSORSHIP.” The last half of the title was written in big, bold letters across the page. The article was in response to Colorado State University authorities discussing whether to fire Rocky Mountain Collegian editor-in-chief David McSwane over a published four worded article in the paper that read “Tase this… FUCK BUSH”. The article was in response to the University of Florida Taser incident.
The Daily Emerald's article ended up being published in the paper the following day on Oct. 2, 2007. The paper received some backlash for the article from members of the local community. On Oct.17, 2007, the Daily Emerald published a letter to the editor written by Eugene, Oregon resident Lisa Priaulx. In her letter, titled "Profane headline makes Emerald look immature and unprofessional ", she writes in opposition of the headline.
At The Daily Emerald's end-of-year celebration, the paper's staff presented editor-in-chief Laura Powers with a framed copy of the “Fire this…FUCK CENSORSHIP” page.
Newsroom strike
On March 3, 2009, following a management dispute between student staffers and the paper's board of directors, newsroom members at the ''Oregon Daily Emerald'' decided to strike, citing board actions as threatening to the independence of the ''Emerald''. They issued four demands to the board at its scheduled executive session on March 3, and printed an editorial in the paper the following day that also contained the requests. The demands were as follows:
#Immediately rescind the offer to Steven A. Smith to serve as interim publisher April 1, 2009 through June 30, 2010.
#Conduct a nationwide search for a publisher, as originally voted at the February 10 board meeting.
#Stipulate in the chosen publisher's contract that he or she shall not be employed in any capacity by the university, including at the School of Journalism and Communication.
#Stipulate in the chosen publisher's contract that he or she shall not have immediate supervisory control over the editor; rather, the publisher and student editor shall remain equals in the organization, as the general manager and student editor currently are.
On March 4, 2009, Steven Smith announced his intention to "withdraw from the fray" following notification of the student strike. The Board of Directors later stated their intention to conduct a nationwide search. The ''Oregon Daily Emerald'' published a newspaper on the morning of March 5, 2009, without the contributions of the newsroom staff. A flurry of media coverage on the strike ensued throughout the day. Following statements of support for the strikers by the Associated Students of the University of Oregon, community members and other student publications around the United States, the board of directors and the newsroom staff agreed to engage in a mediation process the following week to fully resolve the situation. The newsroom staff agreed to end the strike and resume publishing the newspaper on March 9, 2009.
Going digital
In fall 2012, the Oregon Daily Emerald Publishing Company, Inc. transitioned to a new entity, the Emerald Media Group. Today, the ''Daily Emerald'' publishes a weekly print newspaper as well as online, as well as publishing multimedia, such as video and
podcast
A podcast is a program made available in digital format for download over the Internet. For example, an episodic series of digital audio or video files that a user can download to a personal device to listen to at a time of their choosin ...
Paul Brainerd
Paul Brainerd (born 1947) is an American businessman, computer programmer and philanthropist. In 1984, he co-founded the Aldus Corporation, which released Pagemaker, the first consumer-use desktop publishing software. Brainerd has since coined the ...
1969–70,
Pagemaker
Adobe PageMaker (formerly Aldus) is a discontinued desktop publishing computer program introduced in 1985 by the Aldus Corporation on the Apple Macintosh. The combination of the Macintosh's graphical user interface, PageMaker publishing software, ...
and
desktop publishing
Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using page layout software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online ...
creator,
Aldus Corporation
Aldus Corporation was an American software company best known for its pioneering desktop publishing (DTP) software. PageMaker, the company's most well-known product, ushered in the modern era of desktop computers such as the Macintosh seeing ...
founder
*
Grattan Kerans
Grattan Kerans (January 2, 1941 – January 16, 2019) was an American politician from Oregon, who served in the Oregon House of Representatives from 1974 through 1984, and in the Oregon State Senate from 1986 to 1993. He held the position of Spea ...
1970–71, Oregon State Legislator
Notable former staff members
*
Randy Shilts
Randy Shilts (August 8, 1951February 17, 1994) was an American journalist and author. After studying journalism at the University of Oregon, Shilts began working as a reporter for both '' The Advocate'' and the ''San Francisco Chronicle'', as wel ...
, author, ''
And the Band Played On
''And the Band Played On: Politics, People, and the AIDS Epidemic'' is a 1987 book by ''San Francisco Chronicle'' journalist Randy Shilts. The book chronicles the discovery and spread of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immun ...