It has been a busy year full of excitement, adventure and long sleepless nights for the staff of the Daily Vanguard. Looking back, we would like to reflect on some of our achievements and some areas we hope to strengthen in the future.
We printed on every one of the 119 scheduled production nights, including an evening when the campus server was down and the paper was forced to set up a makeshift production office off-campus.
From the depths of the Smith subbasement, deprived of sunlight and fresh air, the Vanguard powered through the months. We covered controversial events such as the incident between professor John Hall and Zaki Bucharest, and also maintained constant coverage of the ASPSU election…or lack thereof.
We boasted a comprehensive and critical news section, a diverse and culturally infused arts section, an up-to-date and in-depth sports section and an opinion section that both challenged and engaged readers. All of the issues were graced by a crack team of photographers, writers, designers and copy editors who came together to make the paper fantastic.
Our staff took home over 16 honors this year from the annual Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association awards when we went head-to-head with other school papers from around the state. Some of the awards included a Best Feature story, two Best Columnists and a sweep of the Best Section category.
As students, the team here at the Vanguard has always sought to maintain strong ties with our peers and consistently print a quality paper for the Portland State community.
In the future, the paper hopes to provide stronger follow-ups to stories and bring about a greater centricity with PSU. Another area we wish to improve upon is our level of engagement with our readers.
We tried to make the paper more eco-friendly with projects such as the 2010 Green Guide, of which we printed fewer copies using less ink. However, the Vanguard would like to further increase its sustainability efforts by placing a greater emphasis on web-based content.
While mistakes were made and there is always room for improvement, this year has been a good one, and the paper has made us proud. Consumption of gallons of coffee, hundreds of burritos and several dozen Ding Dongs has resulted in a sexy paper, which successfully referenced Robocop in context not once, but twice (now thrice).