The Temple News is the editorially independent weekly newspaper of Temple University. It prints 6,000 copies to be distributed primarily on Temple's Main Campus every Tuesday. A staff of 25, supported by more than 150 writers, is responsible for designing, reporting and editing the 20-page paper. Increasingly, TTN is supplementing its weekly print product with breaking news and online-only content on its web site. In September 2007, TTN launched Broad & Cecil, its own blog community. In 2010, the paper's efforts garnered seven Keystone Press Awards. The previous year, the paper's staff won eight Keystones. In November 2008, the paper's web site, temple-news.com, was honored with the 2008 National Online Pacemaker Award, and has also won the print counterpart, a National Pacemaker Award, both awarded by the Associated Collegiate Press.
History
Temple University Weekly first appeared on Monday, Sept. 19, 1921. It was led by an alumni editor and fully supported by the university, though student writers were responsible for coverage. Beginning in the 1930s and continuing into the 1950s, with exceptions during World War II, the now-labeled Temple University News printed Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. During the 1960s and 1970s, the paper went daily, before dropping to four days per week in the 1980s. In the early 1990s, TTN was the fourth largest daily newspaper in Philadelphia. In the late 1990s, citing declining ad revenue and staff size, the paper returned to its weekly origins. With the exception of a single semester in 2005, TTN has been weekly ever since. TTN also publishes daily online content.
Online
In the 21st century, bucking industry trends, The Temple News found a resurgence in its staff size, in addition to interest in its content. It wasn't until 1998 that the paper launched its web site, and it wasn't until 2003 that it got its own domain name. Despite its slow start, TTN has made steady progress in the field of online journalism. It has been a frequent finalist for the Online Pacemaker, an award offered by the Associated Collegiate Press, and won the award in 2008. Currently, the paper uses WordPress. A newly designed web site debuted in January 2009, featuring online-only articles and an increasing multimedia presence, including photo galleries, audio and video. The site was redesigned again in the summer of 2012 into its current format.
Production
In a given Temple News production week, articles and graphics are typically assigned during Monday budget meetings for the following week's Tuesday printing. Features and editorial content are typically deadlined on Thursday, to be fact-checked and corrected by section editors and copy editors. While both the news and sports sections have moved away from including breaking news in its print product — opting for an online venue — these sections typically allow for deadlines on Monday production nights.
Awards
The Temple News has been honored with numerous awards in the past few years, beginning with the Keystone Press Awards in February 2006. TTN editors, reporters and photographers have won Keystone Press Awards in every year since. In 2009, staff members won awards for ongoing news coverage, public service/enterprise package, news photos, sports photos, photo story and web site. The Temple News Online is a finalist in the 2009 Online Pacemaker competition by the Associated Collegiate Press. The results will be announced in October 2009 at the ACP/CMA National College Media Convention in Austin. Most recently, TTN Online earned an EPpy Award for the Best College Newspaper Web Site in the country. The award is given by Editor & Publisher and Mediaweek magazines. In February 2014, The Temple News won 17 Keystone Press Awards.
