The Daily Orange is an independent student newspaper published in Syracuse, New York. It is free and published daily during the Syracuse Universityacademic year. It was one of the first college papers to become fully independent from its parent college. Its alumni work at nearly every major newspaper in the nation — The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, The Philadelphia Inquirer, The Dallas Morning News, The Boston Globe — in a variety of reporting, editing, design and photography roles. Publisher reported circulation for 2018 was 6,000 copies, with a weekly online circulation of about 45,000. The paper's print edition is published Monday, Wednesday and Thursday during the academic year, but content is published online daily during the academic year. The Tuesday print edition was dropped starting in fall 2018 to focus on digital content.
Independence
A major turning point in D.O. history occurred in 1971. Until that time, the newspaper was considered part of SU, meaning that the administration could possibly influence the content of the paper based on financial holds. In 1971, the university refused to back The D.O. in a libel suit and the editorial staff decided to sever the ties that existed with the administration. The paper became a student organization that received funding for production costs from the Student Government Association. The D.O. continued to operate this way, receiving funds from the annual student activity fee, until 1991. A referendum vote determined whether the student body would continue to contribute a portion of its fee. In 1991, however, Editor in Chief Jodi Lamagna and her staff decided to refuse any further funding from SGA. In the process, The D.O. became one of the few completely independent student newspapers in the country. Since then, The D.O. has operated with complete financial independence from the university, raising funds necessary for publishing a daily paper through advertising revenue and fundraising. Though it still maintains a business relationship with the university, in regards to its status as a student group and its housing agreement, its relationship with administrators has no bearing on its editorial content.
In the September 20, 2018 episode of the TV game show Jeopardy!, a clue in the category "Orange You Glad" was, "First published in 1903, the Daily Orange is this New York university's student newspaper."
