Welcome to Press Pass

Here’s one phrase you’ll never hear someone say in the Daily Bruin offices at Kerckhoff 118: “I absolutely love working in a windowless office.”

However, you’ll often hear our office filled with laughter, intermixed voices from various meetings, vociferous debates over the quality of Justin Bieber’s new album, and the occasional “Slack me.”

The Daily Bruin started publishing in 1919, though its predecessors date back to 1912. Since 1925, the Daily Bruin has published a paper each school day of the year, except during some parts of World War II. As other college newspapers over the years have moved their content online or folded completely, The Bruin has stuck to its five-day-a-week print production, and is now the only paper that serves a University of California campus with such a schedule.

One of the main reasons The Bruin has been able to do this every year is due to our staffers. We currently have a staff of 425 students in 14 editorial sections comprised of editors, reporters, photographers, videojournalists, designers and programmers. Our staffers are the backbone to The Bruin. They are the inspiration behind this blog.

Press Pass was created to introduce you, the reader, to our staffers and become your behind-the-scenes access to daily life at the Daily Bruin. It will serve as an outlet for us to tell you about The Bruin’s next big projects, or to discuss the successes and challenges faced in writing and reporting. We also hope to share interesting facts about this paper’s history, Q&As with Daily Bruin alumni and editor guest posts about their own reporting experiences to show what it’s like to be a student journalist today, during a time where the industry is in flux.

We look forward to sharing our story with you as we navigate this evolving landscape of journalism. We can’t say The Bruin will be the same in a few years time. Regardless, here’s to enjoying the journey of finding out. You’re invited for the ride.

—

After our Fall quarter editors’ retreat, News Editor Angie Wang posted a photo of her with her assistant news editors with the caption, “This job, these people. Not sure if we’re doing it right, but at least we’re doing it together!” For whatever reason – perhaps it was the familial vibe, the silliness or the cheesiness – other sections decided to have some fun parodying the photo, including our own upper management team in the photo above.

Which section do you think copied it best?

NEWS:

 
DESIGN:

 
A&E:

 
COPY:

– Francesca Manto, Daily Bruin social media director