The Eastern Echo is the independent student newspaper

Newspaper

A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...

 of Eastern Michigan University

Eastern Michigan University

Eastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti is west of Detroit and eight miles east of Ann Arbor. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School...

 in Ypsilanti, Michigan

Michigan

Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....

. The paper is funded through advertising

Advertising

Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...

 revenue. The paper is published Monday and Thursday during the fall and winter semesters. It is published weekly during the spring semester. Although EMU funds a Student Media Director, that official has no editorial influence over the content of the Eastern Echo.

History

The Eastern Echo celebrated its 125th anniversary in fall 2005. The newspaper started as the Normal News in 1881 when the school was known as Normal College. It later became the Normal College News and, then, the Eastern Echo in 1956, when the university was renamed to Eastern Michigan College. The newspaper is currently operating out of the second floor of King Hall, a former dormitory which has been converted into office space for a number of campus organizations and services.

Journalistic success

Many former Eastern Echo staffers have established themselves in the professional media business. Their work extends to major metropolitan newspapers, world-class trade publications and the top Internet sites in the U.S. The student paper has been nationally recognized for decades.

Since the 1970s, the newspaper has won 13 Pacemaker awards from the Associated Collegiate Press

Associated Collegiate Press

The Associated Collegiate Press is the largest and oldest national membership organization for college student media in the United States. The ACP is a division of the National Scholastic Press Association...

 (most recently back-to-back in 2002 and 2003) and more than 40 awards from the Michigan Collegiate Press Association in the last four years. In 1980 under the leadership of Rita Abent, it received the Michigan Associated Press Sweepstakes Award, the highest annual citation from that organization, besting professional papers in the state for its breaking news coverage.

In the 2005 Division 1 MCPA contest, the Eastern Echo won eight awards. The newspaper took second place in general excellence, finishing behind Central Michigan University

Central Michigan University

Central Michigan University is a public research university located in Mount Pleasant in the U.S. state of Michigan...

's CM Life and edging out the University of Michigan

University of Michigan

The University of Michigan is a public research university located in Ann Arbor, Michigan in the United States. It is the state's oldest university and the flagship campus of the University of Michigan...

's Michigan Daily

Michigan Daily

The Michigan Daily is the daily student newspaper of the University of Michigan. Its first edition was published on September 29, 1890. The newspaper is financially and editorially independent of the University's administration and other student groups, but shares a university building with other...

 and Michigan State University

Michigan State University

Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...

's State News.

Publishing and distribution

The Eastern Echo is available for free at virtually any campus building at Eastern Michigan University

Eastern Michigan University

Eastern Michigan University is a comprehensive, co-educational public university located in Ypsilanti, Michigan. Ypsilanti is west of Detroit and eight miles east of Ann Arbor. The university was founded in 1849 as Michigan State Normal School...

and at more than 40 off-campus locations. Its circulation varies from 7,000 to 12,000 throughout the year. The paper also publishes its content, and archives dating to September 2003, on its website.