Broadsheet pages return to major university newspaper
Kevin Slimp asks the staff how it's going
Approximately 15 years ago (the exact date is foggy), I spoke at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Conference media staffs. I don’t remember the exact title of the group, but it was composed of media and communications staffs representing the (then) 14 schools of the Southeastern Conference. During a question-and-answer session, a member of the group rose from his seat and introduced himself. It’s been too many years to remember his name, but I do remember he was a vice president at the University of Florida.
His question was simple. “At the University of Florida, we recently conducted a study and found that only 42 percent of the student body reads the daily campus newspaper each day. Given the low number, we’ve decided to cut the daily paper from our budget. I’d like to know your thoughts about that.”
My response was quick. “What else do you have at the University of Florida that reaches 42 percent of your students each day?”
After a long pause, he responded, “Nothing. Maybe we should reconsider cutting the newspaper.”
I never checked whether they eventually cut the newspaper out of the university budget, but my point was obvious. Only 42 percent may seem small, until you dig deeper.
From 1997-2017, I directed The University of Tennessee (UT) Newspaper Academy. At that time, UT students were treated to The Daily Beacon, a daily printed newspaper distributed throughout campus. I was chagrined in 2017 when the paper was cut to two days each week. Eventually, I learned from UT students that The Beacon was converted into more of a weekly entertainment tab. I wasn’t surprised when the newspaper was cut. In a meeting with the vice chancellor a few months earlier, I learned cutting the school paper was being considered.
It was with some delight that, a few months ago, I read a story on social media about The Beacon returning to a large-print format. Not only that, but the newspaper was also converting to a full-broadsheet format. For those of you who were born after 2000, that means the newspaper page is approximately 11 x 21 inches.
Two weeks ago, I met with two members of The Daily Beacon staff: Caden Dyer, editor-in-chief, and Emily Hurst, print managing editor. What I learned in 45 minutes brought more than one grin to my face. A few of the highlights of our conversation included:
The first issue of the broadsheet version of The Daily Beacon came out March 18, 2026. The newspaper is published weekly, with a print run of approximately 3,000 copies.
According to Caden, the conversion to broadsheet has been incredibly positive. Not only do alumni love the broadsheet version, but students who are active on campus “love the switch.”
Caden brought up the idea of a broadsheet newspaper three years ago after looking at the tab that had become The Beacon. “I was surprised that the newspaper looked the way it did. It didn’t look like a newspaper to me.” She said she didn’t like the tabloid style.
A lot of credit was given to Shelby Wright, the 2025 editor-in-chief of The Daily Beacon, who was “such a creative person and who always talked about moving to broadsheet.”
The students began making plans. According to Emily, “It took a lot of preparation. It was 100 percent worth it.”
A real surprise was the increase in advertising revenue after converting to a broadsheet newspaper. “With the switch to broadsheet, we got some really, really big-money ads.” One ad, Google Gemini, was $2,000 per issue.
I was pleased to learn that the current dean of the College of Communications and Information is a big supporter of the newspaper. According to Emily and Caden, that has made a huge difference.
The paper is racked throughout campus. Approximately 2,600 copies are racked each issue. I asked if more people are reading the paper now that it’s in print, in addition to being online.
“I would think so!” answered Emily. She said the conversion to a broadsheet newspaper made the staff work harder across all aspects, which helped boost readership. “It can’t be overlooked that our reporting has gotten more serious this year, but our journalism is just more impactful. We’re covering hard news and topics that people actually care about. When we started, The Beacon was more of a feature publication. Now, it’s an actual newspaper.”
I asked how students have responded to the new broadsheet version of the newspaper. Emily has been on staff four years, so she has seen the complete turnaround. “I remember when I would tell my friends I was working at the newspaper, they would ask, ‘What’s the name of the newspaper?”
Emily said she could understand that because there wasn’t much content that encouraged reader engagement. “The conversion to broadsheet makes our newspaper look so much more professional, reliable and interesting. I think the move to broadsheet has pushed people to do better work.”
When I asked these two early-20s journalists for advice for a newspaper considering dropping print and moving everything online, they responded quickly. “Don’t!” was Emily’s immediate response.
Caden responded, “I think there is nothing like seeing someone’s face light up when they open the newspaper and see their face there.” She continued, “Nothing quite re-creates the feeling of printing the newspaper, then walking around campus and showing it to my friends. A printed newspaper is something incredibly special, and as the whole world switches to digital and everything becomes the same, news organizations have the chance to do something different and stand out. Keeping the newspaper in print is incredibly important.”
Emily added that she has the belief that one day the Internet might crash “and just be gone,” and “I think that having printed editions of things is incredibly important for historical preservation. I completely agree with Caden that having a print edition is incredibly important. It’s very special to see people hold the printed newspaper and see that they’re in it.”
I asked what journalists should know about The Daily Beacon's return to a broadsheet format. Caden “wants people to know that what we’re doing is so important and is touching lives on a regular basis. Our broadsheet transition is the pinnacle of what we accomplished this year as a team.”
Both Emily and Caden were quick to praise Cheryl Welch, their new advisor. Cheryl has a journalism background, not an academic background, and “that’s made such a difference.”
The Daily Beacon recently was named “Best Collegiate Newspaper in the South.” The newspaper placed third in the nation in 2026 for collegiate media.
Kevin Slimp has been a popular consultant and speaker in the newspaper industry since developing the PDF remote printing method in 1994. His upcoming webinars on design, circulation, and software can be found at newspaperacademy.com.
Kevin Slimp is former director of The University of Tennessee Newspaper Institute and founder of NewspaperAcademy.com.
Approximately 15 years ago (the exact date is foggy), I spoke at the annual meeting of the Southeastern Conference media staffs. I don’t remember the exact title of the group, but it was composed of media and communications staffs representing the (then) 14 schools of the Southeastern Conference. During a question-and-answer session, a member of the group rose from his seat and introduced himself. It’s been too many years to remember his name, but I do remember he was a vice president at the University of Florida.
His question was simple. “At the University of Florida, we recently conducted a study and found that only 42 percent of the student body reads the daily campus newspaper each day. Given the low number, we’ve decided to cut the daily paper from our budget. I’d like to know your thoughts about that.”
My response was quick. “What else do you have at the University of Florida that reaches 42 percent of your students each day?”
After a long pause, he responded, “Nothing. Maybe we should reconsider cutting the newspaper.”
I never checked whether they eventually cut the newspaper out of the university budget, but my point was obvious. Only 42 percent may seem small, until you dig deeper.
From 1997-2017, I directed The University of Tennessee (UT) Newspaper Academy. At that time, UT students were treated to The Daily Beacon, a daily printed newspaper distributed throughout campus. I was chagrined in 2017 when the paper was cut to two days each week. Eventually, I learned from UT students that The Beacon was converted into more of a weekly entertainment tab. I wasn’t surprised when the newspaper was cut. In a meeting with the vice chancellor a few months earlier, I learned cutting the school paper was being considered.
It was with some delight that, a few months ago, I read a story on social media about The Beacon returning to a large-print format. Not only that, but the newspaper was also converting to a full-broadsheet format. For those of you who were born after 2000, that means the newspaper page is approximately 11 x 21 inches.
Two weeks ago, I met with two members of The Daily Beacon staff: Caden Dyer, editor-in-chief, and Emily Hurst, print managing editor. What I learned in 45 minutes brought more than one grin to my face. A few of the highlights of our conversation included:
The first issue of the broadsheet version of The Daily Beacon came out March 18, 2026. The newspaper is published weekly, with a print run of approximately 3,000 copies.
According to Caden, the conversion to broadsheet has been incredibly positive. Not only do alumni love the broadsheet version, but students who are active on campus “love the switch.”
Caden brought up the idea of a broadsheet newspaper three years ago after looking at the tab that had become The Beacon. “I was surprised that the newspaper looked the way it did. It didn’t look like a newspaper to me.” She said she didn’t like the tabloid style.
A lot of credit was given to Shelby Wright, the 2025 editor-in-chief of The Daily Beacon, who was “such a creative person and who always talked about moving to broadsheet.”
The students began making plans. According to Emily, “It took a lot of preparation. It was 100 percent worth it.”
A real surprise was the increase in advertising revenue after converting to a broadsheet newspaper. “With the switch to broadsheet, we got some really, really big-money ads.” One ad, Google Gemini, was $2,000 per issue.
I was pleased to learn that the current dean of the College of Communications and Information is a big supporter of the newspaper. According to Emily and Caden, that has made a huge difference.
The paper is racked throughout campus. Approximately 2,600 copies are racked each issue. I asked if more people are reading the paper now that it’s in print, in addition to being online.
“I would think so!” answered Emily. She said the conversion to a broadsheet newspaper made the staff work harder across all aspects, which helped boost readership. “It can’t be overlooked that our reporting has gotten more serious this year, but our journalism is just more impactful. We’re covering hard news and topics that people actually care about. When we started, The Beacon was more of a feature publication. Now, it’s an actual newspaper.”
I asked how students have responded to the new broadsheet version of the newspaper. Emily has been on staff four years, so she has seen the complete turnaround. “I remember when I would tell my friends I was working at the newspaper, they would ask, ‘What’s the name of the newspaper?”
Emily said she could understand that because there wasn’t much content that encouraged reader engagement. “The conversion to broadsheet makes our newspaper look so much more professional, reliable and interesting. I think the move to broadsheet has pushed people to do better work.”
When I asked these two early-20s journalists for advice for a newspaper considering dropping print and moving everything online, they responded quickly. “Don’t!” was Emily’s immediate response.
Caden responded, “I think there is nothing like seeing someone’s face light up when they open the newspaper and see their face there.” She continued, “Nothing quite re-creates the feeling of printing the newspaper, then walking around campus and showing it to my friends. A printed newspaper is something incredibly special, and as the whole world switches to digital and everything becomes the same, news organizations have the chance to do something different and stand out. Keeping the newspaper in print is incredibly important.”
Emily added that she has the belief that one day the Internet might crash “and just be gone,” and “I think that having printed editions of things is incredibly important for historical preservation. I completely agree with Caden that having a print edition is incredibly important. It’s very special to see people hold the printed newspaper and see that they’re in it.”
I asked what journalists should know about The Daily Beacon's return to a broadsheet format. Caden “wants people to know that what we’re doing is so important and is touching lives on a regular basis. Our broadsheet transition is the pinnacle of what we accomplished this year as a team.”
Both Emily and Caden were quick to praise Cheryl Welch, their new advisor. Cheryl has a journalism background, not an academic background, and “that’s made such a difference.”
The Daily Beacon recently was named “Best Collegiate Newspaper in the South.” The newspaper placed third in the nation in 2026 for collegiate media.
Kevin Slimp has been a popular consultant and speaker in the newspaper industry since developing the PDF remote printing method in 1994. His upcoming webinars on design, circulation, and software can be found at newspaperacademy.com.
Kevin Slimp is former director of The University of Tennessee Newspaper Institute and founder of NewspaperAcademy.com.