Editorial: Rider newspaper spans eight decades

“The News assures the world that it will earnestly endeavor to meet these objectives: (1) To give a true account of the chief events in the life of Rider College; (2) to encourage that unity of spirit which works for real achievement in college affairs; (3) to provide an acceptable medium for the expression of student opinion.”

– Rider College News

First issue: Jan. 17, 1930

This year, The Rider News celebrates its 80th birthday, and although there isn’t a party with cake and candles, we want to take this opportunity to reflect on the past and look ahead toward the future.

The student newspaper quickly evolved in its early days, going through a series of name changes:

Onward

The first student publication on campus was Onward, founded in 1914. It was pamphlet-like and formatted into news briefs, featuring a short article about the arrival and introduction of new teachers.

Rider Rooster

The Rider Rooster premiered in 1926, selling for 5 cents a copy. Alumni and community members could buy yearly subscriptions for a dollar. Brimming with student-crafted cartoons, poems, jokes and editorials, the Rooster was a blueprint for the current-day student paper, covering important campus events like the announcement of class officers and reviewing events like the Halloween Frolic Dance.

Rider College News

Unveiled in 1930 and observed as the official anniversary of today’s The Rider News, the Rider College News was strikingly similar to the student paper today in terms of content. The front-page story of the first issue previewed a Rider vs. St. John’s basketball game, while the inside pages were filled with features, opinion pieces and, our favorite, a section titled “Bullosophy,” a comical letter to the editor-esque column which answered student’s questions about love.

The Rider News

The newspaper dropped the “College” in 1940 and became The Rider News, as it is known today. Though decades separate our current paper from those early issues, one aspect has stayed the same: our objectives. As excerpted above, we still strive to present the true account of happenings on campus. We still strive to work together with other organizations and groups at Rider in our effort to provide news. And — perhaps most importantly — we still strive to act as an outlet for the expression of student opinion.

The Rider News has come a long way since 1930, and over the next 80 years, we hope to grow and flourish, just as we have done the last eight decades. We have made the transition from print to online, even debuting a new website design this year — www.theridernews.com. We’ve jumpstarted student blogs — including a sports, photo, freshman and green blog — and have also begun to make the switch to incorporate video footage and photo galleries online, embracing the technology that wasn’t available all those years ago. We recently produced an audio slideshow called “What’s your favorite place at Rider?” Our premiere project was multimedia coverage about MAACness that featured video, photo galleries and a text article.

But we always remember our roots in traditional journalism, and believe that solid reporting is the key to accurate storytelling. We will continue to work hard to honor the objectives set out in 1930 because we have a responsibility to you, our readers. We follow the mantra presented in that first issue of Rider College News, “Remember — the News is your newspaper.”

This weekly editorial expresses the majority opinion of The Rider News. This week’s editorial was written by the Executive Editor, Allie Ward.