Dear Reader,

It’s no secret that the news industry is at a crossroads. For more than two decades, newspapers have struggled to adapt to the internet and to strike a balance between print and digital. The opportunities and challenges presented by digital news coverage—along with a cacophony of other pressures—have challenged local newsrooms, with 2,500 newspapers shutting down since 2005—a rate that seems unlikely to slow.

As young journalists, we know the importance of strong local newspapers. We see daily the irreplaceable role that on-the-ground, community-based journalism plays in local politics, civic engagement, and social justice. Luckily, The Maroon has avoided much of the heartache other newsrooms have faced over the last two decades. As an editorially and financially independent, student-run newspaper, we were fortunate to have access to fantastic advisors who helped us get online in 1997. Since then, we’ve maintained a strong print and virtual presence.

In 2019, The Maroon shifted its printing schedule from a twice-a-week print schedule to weekly in order to adapt to the increasing appetite for digital news and decreasing appetite for print. We have used various print schedules throughout our history, starting as a weekly publication in 1892, then pivoting to daily in 1902, then back to weekly during World War II. Print has always been a part of our mission. Recently, The Maroon re-evaluated the state of our readership. Much to our surprise, our print readership remains strong, with 60 percent of print issues picked up consistently.

Because of this continued demand for print and digital content, we are revising our bilateral publishing approach. Starting this fall, The Maroon will publish print issues every other week instead of every week. Additionally, The Maroon, as of August 18, 2022, added thechicagomaroon.com to its Domain Name System (DNS) and launched a mobile app on College News Source. Our original domain—chicagomaroon.com—will now redirect to thechicagomaroon.com.

Reducing our print frequency will allow The Maroon to invest fully in a digital-first approach. We believe that print no longer serves as the medium through which people receive breaking news. Even with weekly printing, our readers already knew about major news from the website days before it appeared in print. Thus, print will now focus on providing long-form reporting. Readers can expect to find articles that enrich their understanding of relevant news, long-form stories that dive into complex issues, opinion pieces that challenge perspectives, arts pieces that showcase amazing work by students and community members, sports pieces that report the latest on UChicago and Chicagoland athletes, and crosswords that challenge and captivate. Print will be a place for depth, reflection, and entertainment.

In order to optimize our readers’ print experience, we have updated and expanded our distribution route. Readers will soon be able to find a map of Maroon newsstands online and on various posters throughout Hyde Park.

In tandem with these improvements to our print services, The Maroon has partnered with Student Newspapers Online (SNO) to host our new website. While The Maroon was previously hosted on a site built by Euirim Choi (A.B. ’19), we decided to migrate to SNO in order to expand our digital presence. Readers can now listen to podcasts directly in their browsers, play games on the website itself, along with many other features.

Additionally, SNO allows readers to access Maroon content through the College News Source app, available on both the Apple App Store and Google Play. Through the app, readers can access all published articles, videos, and podcasts; follow their favorite writers; and receive push notifications for breaking news.

We are incredibly excited about what the future holds for The Maroon, its staffers, and its readers.

Best,

Gage Gramlick, editor-in-chief

Yiwen Lu, managing editor

Update: As of August 26, 2022, thechicagomaroon.com will redirect to chicagomaroon.com instead of the other way around.