The Daily Texan is the student newspaper for the University of Texas. We’ve represented the UT community since 1900, more of our alumni have gone on to win Pulitzer prizes than any other college newspaper and we have won more awards than any of our peers.
But at the end of the day, the paper exists for the students of this University.
My goal for myself and for the Texan is to make this paper more open, more accessible and more reflective of the UT community.
The Texan has faced criticism in recent years for our coverage, and in many ways we’ve failed to do our jobs as representatives of the student body. We’ve been too exclusive, we’ve come off as inaccessible and this has been reflected in our coverage.
We’re supposed to be the paper for the UT community, and going forward myself and our entire management team want to emphasize the importance of this mission. If we want to be the newspaper for the UT community, we need to be open and receptive to that community. This begins and ends with the people who make the paper.
This semester, as with every new semester, we’re looking for a new team.
You don’t need to be a journalism major — or have any real interest in pursuing journalism — to apply. We have more than a dozen departments looking for talent, and many of us at the Texan came in without any journalism experience (I know I did).
If you’re interested in reporting, our News, Life&Arts and Sports departments are all hiring new writers. As a news reporter, you will cover the news on and around campus, the Texas legislature and the city of Austin. In Life&Arts, your focus will fall on culture in and around campus, covering topics such as local restaurants, art shows, performances and everything else you can think of. In Sports, your focus will be everything Longhorn athletics. If you’d rather edit the news than report it, consider applying for the Copy department, where you will edit stories for grammar, clarity and accuracy.
If you’re motivated by the prospect of making a difference at UT, the Opinion department is a good place to start. Opinion columns have led to real and influential change, and I want to carry on this tradition going forward. In a long history of opinion writing, Daily Texan columnists have interviewed UT presidents, senators and hundreds of distinguished professors and alumni in order to build strong arguments in favor of issues they care about.
If writing isn’t your forte, we also have an array of multimedia and creative departments. In the Design department, you will put together the daily paper and hone your eye for graphic design. In Photo, you will have the opportunity to photograph newsworthy events around campus — whether it’s a rally at the Capitol or Bevo escaping his enclosure and nearly trampling you. In our Comics department, you will help create the only student-run comics page in the country. If illustration and digital art are more your style, Opinion illustrators combine traditional art with digital style to create illustrations for each day’s opinion page.
As a Video staffer, you will film and produce regular online content capturing the spirit of the UT community. In the Audio department, you will create regular podcasts and audio stories augmenting our written content.
On the outreach side of the paper, our Social Media, Engagement and Newsletters departments advertise the paper and make our content more accessible to the student body.
To apply for any and all of these positions, simply fill out our issue staff interest form, select the departments you’re interested in joining and the editors of each department will reach out to you with information about their specific tryout process.
If you want more information about applying for the Texan, or if you’re curious about how we operate, come to one of our three open houses next week — on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday at 5 p.m. Or just come by our office in the basement of the HSM building.
Apply for The Daily Texan’s spring staff. We’re here, and we’re hiring.
Anderson is a history and Plan II junior from Houston. She is the editor-in-chief.
