The San Antonio Spurs of the college newspaper industry
The Daily Orange sports department is part of one of the most respected independent student newspapers in the country. The Syracuse-based paper has won countless awards throughout the years and consistently churns out quality journalists that have gone on to prosper in bigger markets. They are the NBA’s San Antonio Spurs of the college newspaper industry; fostering a culture of diligence, hard-work, resourcefulness and passion for the craft. Resourcefulness has been ingrained into the paper’s culture since it became an independent entity in 1971, severing ties to the university, meaning the school could no longer censure or control what content the paper published. Funded by a combination of alumni support and advertisements, the paper doesn’t exactly have a limitless budget, though those limited funds have led to some of the most memorable moments of these young, determined journalists’ lives. The pathway to becoming the next Pete Thamel, Greg Bishop or Eli Saslow (the full lis