Last updated: 08/02/2008
Gamecock turns 100

The University of South Carolina’s student newspaper, The Daily Gamecock turned 100 years old in January.

The Daily Gamecock publishes a free newspaper five days a week and nine times during the summer, printing about 12,000 copies daily. The university has more than 27,000 students at its main Columbia campus.

The first issue published on January 30, 1908, featured two front-page stories - one about a retiring professor and a second reflecting on the university’s football season.
The paper published a special commemorative edition to mark its centennial.

In the autumn, the paper covered the tragedy of six University of South Carolina students dying in a beach house fire in North Carolina.

The newspaper is operated by the university, but the students have editorial freedom.

In 1973, Patrick Tyler, a Gamecock editor who later became a New York Times correspondent, published a UFO edition.
“It was a hoax edition we did just to be outrageous,” he said.

“I think we had aliens coming down and kidnapping coeds from their dorms.”

The article caused a furore and the author learned a harsh lesson.

“There’s no such thing as fun when you have the trust of journalism,” he said. “Your readers immediately call you on it.”