About Us

To reach the Editorial Office (newsroom) at 301 Flowers Building, call 919-684-2663 or fax 919-684-4696.
To reach the Business Office at 103 West Union Building, call 919-684-3811.
To reach the Advertising Office at 101 West Union Building call 919-684-3811 or fax 919-668-1247.
To inquire about subscriptions, call the Advertising Office at 919-684-3811.
Subscriptions have 100% unconditional guarantee for a full refund on all unmailed issues if you are not satisfied.

The Chronicle, the student-run newspaper of the Duke community, is older than Duke University itself.

Students at Duke's predecessor, Trinity College, founded the newspaper in 1905, and the first issue published on Dec. 19 featured articles about a campus debate and a speech by a Charlotte businessman. The paper was created by members of the Hesperian and Columbian literary societies but eventually moved beyond those roots.

In 1968, after years of being published two or three times a week, the paper began five-day-a-week publication during the academic year.

Later, in an important step toward independence, the paper stopped taking student fees. And in 1993, The Chronicle incorporated as the Duke Student Publishing Company, breaking formal ties with Duke. The company has a contractual relationship with the university governing issues such as office space and distribution rights, but independence allows The Chronicle the freedom to cover campus news without fear of repercussions from administrators. Advertising revenue allows the newspaper to be self-sustaining.

In 1995, The Chronicle launched its web site, which now has a readership of 70,000 and serves as a resource for Duke alumni, parents and sports fans who want the latest news from Durham.

Over the years, the milestone moments for the paper included coinage of the term "Blue Devils" for the school's sports teams, publication of the first full-color photo in 1984 and the placement of a black bar of mourning around the front page after Richard Nixon was elected president in 1968.

In addition to its role in providing news on campus, The Chronicle has a long tradition of educating students in journalism and propelling them into careers in the field. Among the paper's alumni are prominent journalists who have worked for publications such as The New York Times, The Washington Post and Newsweek.

The paper is still entirely run by students, who are not paid and are responsible for all content. The business and advertising operations are managed by a professional staff. The company's board, composed largely of former staff members, sets broad policy for the organization.

The Chronicle's editorial department has a staff of more than 100 student volunteers, and we're always looking for more. Students have the opportunity to work in any of The Chronicle's editorial departments: University (campus news), Local & National (external coverage), Health & Science, Editorials, Sports, Photography, Graphics/Design, Recess (our weekly arts and entertainment magazine), or Towerview (our bi-monthly news and perspectives magazine).

The business and advertising departments include both professional staff members and paid work-study students. (For more information about those positions, contact Chrissy Beck (chrissy.beck@duke.edu) or Barbara Starbuck (starbuck@duke.edu).

Information and training sessions are held at the beginning of the fall semester and then periodically over the course of the year. After you attend that first training session, you're ready to take on your first story. The assigning editors will work with you as you learn the ropes in whichever departments you want to try out. You'll be placed on the general assignment reporters list as a contributing reporter. Over the course of the semester, you'll be encouraged to attend more specific and extensive training sessions -- they're not too long and cover some of the more detailed aspects of reporting and writing in greater depth. You're eligible for promotion to a staff writer position within a specific department as soon as you've written six stories in at least three different departments and you've attended three of the extended training sessions. (You don't have to move up if you don't want to -- the time commitment is as high or as low as you want it to be.) Staff writers then have the opportunity to become associate editors, at which point they are full-fledged members of the editorial staff. That designation includes the additional responsibilities of regular editing shifts and news coverage, as well as the eligibility to attend editorial board meetings and vote in editor elections.

For more information about how to become a part of The Chronicle, including times of upcoming training sessions, contact Zak Kazzaz (zachary.kazzaz@duke.edu) or Caroline McGeough (caroline.mcgeough@duke.edu).