''The Statesman'' is the official

student newspaper A student publication is a media outlet such as a newspaper, magazine, television show, or radio station Graduate student journal, produced by students at an educational institution. These publications typically cover local and school-related new ...

Stony Brook University Stony Brook University (SBU), officially the State University of New York at Stony Brook, is a public university, public research university in Stony Brook, New York, United States, on Long Island. Along with the University at Buffalo, it is on ...

. Founded in 1957 as ''The Sucolian'', it is the longest-running student publication of the university and a print edition was published every Monday of the

academic year An academic year, or school year, is a period that schools, colleges and university, universities use to measure the duration of studies for a given educational level. Academic years are often divided into academic terms. Students attend classe ...

until 2021. The paper is owned by Statesman Association Inc. and is staffed by undergraduate students, who work as editorial board members, writers, multimedia staff, social media team members or web designers, among other roles. ''The Statesman'' has won awards from the

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, lette ...

Newsday ''Newsday'' is a daily newspaper in the United States primarily serving Nassau and Suffolk counties on Long Island, although it is also sold throughout the New York metropolitan area. The slogan of the newspaper is "Newsday, Your Eye on LI" ...

, and the

Society for News Design A society () is a group of individuals involved in persistent social interaction or a large social group sharing the same spatial or social territory, typically subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations. ...

, and its editors and writers have gone on to future careers in journalism. ''The Statesman'''s office is located on the third floor of the Stony Brook Student Activities Center on the main campus.

History

''The Statesman'' was founded in the fall of 1957 as ''The Sucolian'', its name originating from the abbreviation of the State University Campus on Long Island (SUCoLI), the former name of Stony Brook University when it was located in

Oyster Bay, New York The Town of Oyster Bay is the easternmost of the three Administrative divisions of New York#Town, towns that make up Nassau County, New York, Nassau County, New York (state), New York, United States. Part of the New York metropolitan area, it is ...

. The paper's name was changed to ''The Statesman'' in 1959, and the final issue of ''The Sucolian'' was dated April 9, 1959. The first issue of ''The Statesman'' was dated May 15, 1959. In 1976, the Statesman Association Inc. was formed and given tax exempt status by the

IRS The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...

. In the 1970s, ''The Statesman'' published a 36-page issue three times a week. The paper currently runs on funding from both advertisements and the Undergraduate Student Government at Stony Brook University. In 2010, ''The Statesman'''s funding was slashed by USG from $27,000 to $2,500, leading the paper to switch from a biweekly format to a weekly format. The paper was forced to cut costs in the year prior to the funding cut, including reducing the circulation of each issue by 1,000 copies, eliminating the paid staff advertiser position, and ceasing to cover travel expenses for its writers. USG alleged that operation of ''The Statesman'' had run a $24,000 deficit in the past year, and in response, ''The Statesman'' filed a protest. In 2019, a story published in ''

The Atlantic ''The Atlantic'' is an American magazine and multi-platform publisher based in Washington, D.C. It features articles on politics, foreign affairs, business and the economy, culture and the arts, technology, and science. It was founded in 185 ...

'' alleged that

administration members during

Samuel L. Stanley Samuel L. Stanley Jr. (born January 11, 1954) is an American educator and biomedical researcher. He was president of Michigan State University from 2019 to November 2022, and president of Stony Brook University from 2009 to 2019.http://www.ston ...

's tenure as president had stifled journalists from ''The Statesman'''s attempts to report on matters that reflected poorly on the school. Restrictions on access by student journalists have continued since then. In March 2020, as a result of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, ''The Statesman'' stopped printing for the first time since its first physical issue in 1958. On August 22, 2021, ''The Statesman'' announced that it would be ceasing its print edition effective indefinitely due to financial constraints brought upon by the pandemic and the need to adapt to a changing journalism landscape. Beginning fall 2022, print issues returned with monthly special issues of ''The Statesman.''

References

External links

''The Statesman''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stony Brook Statesman, The Student newspapers published in New York (state) Stony Brook University 1957 establishments in New York (state) Newspapers established in 1957