For over 100 years, the OU Daily has existed in print. Its papers have filled the newsstands across campus and broader parts of the city and were once distributed five times a week.
Through decades of coverage, our journalism has shifted its presentation to occupy several mediums, including magazines, tabloids and now our website, where we receive the most engagement from our audience. But, our print papers aren’t the commodities they used to be.
You might pick up a paper in moments of chaos that require comfort, as The Daily covers presidential resignations or protests on campus. Or, you might be drawn in by an eye-catching cover, such as when a UT fan was caught flipping the Sooners off during the 2020 Red River Rivalry game. I know I have three copies somewhere in my closet.
But, as I walk around campus, it saddens me to see the papers our copy and design desks spend countless hours on sitting in enormous piles on our newsstands. I don’t blame our audience — most of you have already read the stories they contain online. An increased digital presence means you are no longer required to carry around our four-page paper to get the latest news.
Although we love our physical paper and the history it has had as an informative, independent news source that students, staff and Norman residents can pick up any time on campus, it no longer matches our digital focus.
After over 100 years, we are ready to say goodbye to this iteration of it, and this will be our final weekly print edition.
If you are currently reading this in one of our papers, I first want to thank you for the dedication you have shown to our publication. In many ways, you have made the efforts of our copy and design desks worth it.
I also hope you will take comfort in knowing that, just because this is our last weekly paper, it doesn’t mean you will no longer see us in print. Our other editions, including the Crimson Quarterly, New to OU, our Back to School paper, Living Guide, etc., will still be distributed.
We will also start fresh with some new editions that will be presented under the umbrella term “guide.” These guides will be published about once a month and will cover themes ranging from a Best of Norman guide, an expressions guide that will be a compendium of opinion columns and essays written by students and Daily staffers, and a guide celebrating OU’s graduating class.
The goal of these editions is to bring utility to the print medium — which has more recently just recycled our online content — by producing separate, bigger community serving stories that exist inside an engaging cover you’ll want to feature on your walls or coffee tables. We will meet you on the South Oval to hand out these editions and look forward to the potential of empty newsstands.
I am hopeful this increased digital focus will be understood as a way to strengthen the sustainability of our operations. As we enter this new era of The Daily, we want to continue bringing you breaking news and longer-form content featuring community voices. This transition will allow us to focus more on the journalism that informs our readers, holds those in power accountable and sends our staff members to internships and jobs across the globe.
As I look at the three years worth of print papers that decorate the walls of my room, I will say this moment is bittersweet. I have loved bringing print copies of the features I write to my grandparents, and I still experience moments of disbelief when I walk into Midway Deli and see the names of my friends on the front cover of our paper. But that joy and pride is something I know I will feel as we produce these less frequent but more robust editions while simultaneously deepening our digital focus.
As we enter the year ahead with the reflections of OU community members on a tumultuous two years, we hope you will walk alongside us as we too enter our “new normal.” This final weekly paper will be the first themed edition you can add to your future collection as we continue to seek out ways to improve audience engagement.
Thank you for picking up our paper and reading our work on our website, oudaily.com. And, if you haven't already, please sign up for our newsletter and follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
We look forward to continuing to serve as OU’s independent student voice, and we hope you’ll hold onto this paper for years to come.
