When did student journalism originate?
Unfortunately, not much information can be found about the origin of student journalism in the world.
The Student’s Gazette handwritten by the students of the William Penn Charter School in Philadelphia is probably the oldest student news outlet. It’s first issue is dated June 1777. Student editors of the Gazette reported the latest news during the U.S. Revolutionary War (Arnold, 1976).
The Hessian Courier was a pamphlet published in 1834 by German dramatist and political activist Gerog Büchner during his student years. This pamphlet combined information and opinion to persuade the German people to overthrow the monarchy. Although is not considered as such, the Courier is one of the oldest and most prominent student publications in the world.
Dartmouth College established its campus weekly newspaper in 1839, the Harvard Crimson was founded in 1856 and the Yale Daily News was first published in 1878, which is considered the world’s first student daily periodical (Yale Daily, 2008; Duscha & Fischer, 1973).
Cuba has the oldest student magazines in Latin America. It is believed that “Alma Mater” first published by the University Student Federation (FEU) in 1922 is the oldest student magazine in Cuba. “Alma Mater” still runs today.
As you can see, we don’t have much information about the history of student journalism in other countries. If you know some facts about the origin of student journalism in your country, send us an e-mail and we will add it to this page.
Author’s note: This information was taken from my thesis on student journalism. If you want a copy, send me a request via e-mail or post a comment. You can see the references in this page
