The Booze News

Last updated

The Booze News
"Today's News ... Under the Influence"
Type Parody newspaper
Format Tabloid
Owner(s)The Black Sheep
EditorAtish Doshi
Staff writers6
Founded2004
Headquarters1471 N. Milwaukee Ave,
Suite 3F
Chicago, Illinois 60642
United States
Circulation 100,000[ citation needed ]
Website

The Booze News is a satirical newspaper founded at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in February 2004 by Atish Doshi and Derek Chin. [1] The free paper, published weekly with a circulation of 20,000[ citation needed ], is written, edited and distributed by students at UIUC. Currently, The Booze News is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and continues to exist under The Black Sheep. [2]

Contents

Origins and expansion

According to co-founder Derek Chin, The Booze News was founded as a twelve-page paper in 2004. With innovative and controversial content the paper's popularity quickly grew among the University of Illinois student base, and as that popularity was further realized by the local advertisers, the paper expanded to twenty pages. The first campus expansion took place in 2005, as The Booze News began publishing a twelve-page issue at Illinois State University. [3] In 2006, The Booze News expanded further, and began distribution at three more schools, The University of Wisconsin in Madison, The University of Iowa in Iowa City, Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana, University of Florida in Gainesville, FL, University of Georgia in Athens, GA and the University of Missouri in Columbia, Missouri. (The University of Wisconsin, Indiana University and University of Missouri issues are no longer in print.) In 2008 the parent company of The Booze News was dissolved. "The Booze News" remained for two years and now operates as "The Black Sheep.". [4]

Weekly content

Each week the student-writers at The Booze News produce several comedic articles that poke fun at life as a college students. Often the content consists of many one-shot satirical articles that comment on current campus occurrences, as well as one or two recurring columns that anchor weekly readership. For example, Volume 13, issue 3, [5] published on September 10, 2008, led with a one-shot article [6] parodying a hoax email [7] sent out by UIUC Chancellor Richard Herman, and contained two regular columns, a fake interview with UIUC football coach Ron Zook [8] and a sex-themed column, "Sex in the C-U". [9]

In addition to the weekly articles, The Booze News runs a rotating series of alcohol reviews, [10] CD reviews, [11] bartender interviews, drinking games, class-time games and celebrity interviews. [12]

Controversy

The Booze News often garners criticism for promoting underage drinking and binge drinking, [3] but co-founder Atish Doshi notes that "The paper is not for eight-year olds," [13] and "The students love it." [14]

In October 2008 The Booze News came under popular scrutiny for an article in its University of Missouri edition. The article in question was "Judging A Book By Its Cover". [13] The writer of the controversial article published a fictional interpretation of the plot of a children's book. Previous books used to for the "Judging a Book By Its Cover" series include, Elmo Pops In, The Box Car Children, The Hardy Boys, and The Little Engine That Could. Some of the older town's people were offended by the content. The incident garnered national attention from news media outlets such as CNN, [13] Fox News [15] and the Los Angeles Times . [16] T

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Illinois System</span> Public university system in Illinois

The University of Illinois System is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Illinois consisting of three universities: University of Illinois Chicago, University of Illinois Springfield, and University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign. Across its three universities, the University of Illinois System enrolls more than 94,000 students. It had an operating budget of $7.18 billion in 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Illinois Chicago</span> Public university in Chicago, Illinois, US

The University of Illinois Chicago (UIC) is a public research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its campus is in the Near West Side community area, adjacent to the Chicago Loop. The second campus established under the University of Illinois system, UIC is also the largest university in the Chicago metropolitan area, having more than 33,000 students enrolled in 16 colleges. It is classified among "R1: Doctoral Universities – Very high research activity."

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</span> Public university in Illinois, US

The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign is a public land-grant research university in the Champaign–Urbana metropolitan area, Illinois, United States. It is the flagship institution of the University of Illinois system and was established in 1867. With over 53,000 students, the University of Illinois is one of the largest public universities by enrollment in the United States.

The Daily Illini, commonly known as the DI, is a student-run newspaper that has been published for the community of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign since 1871. Weekday circulation during fall and spring semesters is 7,000; copies are distributed free at more than 100 locations throughout Champaign–Urbana.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern Illinois University Carbondale</span> Public university in Carbondale, Illinois, US

Southern Illinois University is a public research university in Carbondale, Illinois. Chartered in 1869, SIU is the oldest and flagship campus of the Southern Illinois University system. SIU enrolls students from all 50 states and more than 100 countries. Originally founded as a normal college, the university today provides programs in a variety of disciplines, combining a strong liberal arts tradition with a focus on research. SIU was granted limited university status in 1943 and began offering graduate degrees in 1950. A separate campus was established in Edwardsville, Illinois in 1957, eventually becoming Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chief Illiniwek</span> Former mascot of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Chief Illiniwek was the mascot of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), associated with the university's intercollegiate athletic programs, from October 30, 1926, to February 21, 2007. Chief Illiniwek was portrayed by a student to represent the Illiniwek, the state's namesake, although the regalia worn was from the Sioux. The student portraying Chief Illiniwek performed during halftime of Illinois football and basketball games, as well as during women's volleyball matches.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ron Zook</span> American football player and coach (born 1954)

Ronald Andrew Zook is an American football coach who is a special teams quality control coach at the University of Maryland. He was the head football coach at the University of Florida from 2002 to 2004 and the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign from 2005 to 2011.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Atish Dipankar University of Science and Technology</span> Private university in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Atish Dipankar University of Science & Technology, abbreviated as ADUST, is a private university in Uttara, Dhaka, Bangladesh. The university was named after Atish Dipankara Srijnana, the ancient Buddhist scholar.

Loutelious "T. J." Holmes Jr. is an American journalist and national television personality. Holmes first gained national prominence as an anchor and correspondent for CNN. He spent five years at the network anchoring CNN Saturday & Sunday Morning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 Northern Illinois University shooting</span> 2008 mass shooting in DeKalb, Illinois, US

The Northern Illinois University shooting was a school shooting that took place on Thursday, February 14, 2008, at Northern Illinois University (NIU) in DeKalb, Illinois. Steven Kazmierczak, 27 years old and a 2006 NIU graduate, opened fire with a shotgun and three pistols in a crowd of students on campus, killing five students and injuring 17 more people, before fatally shooting himself.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2008 United States presidential election in Missouri</span>

The 2008 United States presidential election in Missouri was held on November 4, 2008, and was part of the 2008 United States presidential election, which took place throughout all 50 states and D.C. Voters chose 11 representatives, or electors to the Electoral College, who voted for president and vice president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Herbert Windsor Mumford I</span>

Herbert Windsor Mumford I (1871-1938) was a professor of agriculture from 1901 to 1938 at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Engineering Hall, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</span>

Engineering Hall is an administrative building at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign. It is located in the south end of the Bardeen Quadrangle on Green Street in Urbana, Illinois, facing the Illini Union. Engineering Hall serves all disciplines within the UIUC College of Engineering and is well known for representing the school's colors with its orange bricks and blue roof. In addition to many offices and conference rooms, Engineering Hall also includes two computer labs and four lecture halls. Engineering Hall also houses many engineering-based student organizations in its offices.

The Graduate Employees' Organization at UIUC (GEO) is a labor union created to defend and extend the bargaining and employment rights of Graduate Employees at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Business Instructional Facility</span> Academics in Illinois , United States

The Gies College of Business Instructional Facility (BIF) is a state-of-the-art business facility designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects located on the Champaign campus at the University of Illinois Urbana–Champaign (UIUC).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">University Laboratory High School (Urbana, Illinois)</span> High school in Urbana, Illinois

The University of Illinois Laboratory High School, also known as Uni High or just Uni, was established in 1921 and is a laboratory school located on the engineering section of the University of Illinois campus in Urbana, Illinois. Its enrolls about 300 students, spanning five years. The school's alumni include three Nobel laureates and a Pulitzer Prize winner. In 2022, Uni High was named as a top-15 public school in Illinois by Niche and the following year rose to a top-15 public school in the nation. In 2006 and 2008, it was recognized as a "public elite" school by Newsweek because of its students' high scores on the SAT. Before the change in the SAT's format in 2016, the average SAT score was 2045, and now varies from 1400 to 1600. As of 2019, the average SAT was a 1470. The average ACT score is a 32.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">History of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign</span>

The history of the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign dates back to 1862. U of I is a public research-intensive university in the U.S. state of Illinois. A land-grant university, it is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system. The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign opened on March 2, 1868, and is the second oldest public university in the state, and is a founding member of the Big Ten Conference.

References

  1. "The Booze News - About Us". Archived from the original on December 11, 2008. Retrieved December 6, 2008.
  2. "Home". The Black Sheep. Retrieved April 28, 2024.
  3. 1 2 "Welcome to nginx". Archived from the original on April 8, 2013. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  4. "The Black Sheep Online". Archived from the original on December 8, 2010. Retrieved January 6, 2011.
  5. University of Illinois theboozenews.com [ permanent dead link ]
  6. "The Booze News - Regarding Greek Life on Campus". Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  7. From Chancellor dailyillini.com [ permanent dead link ]
  8. "The Booze News - the Ron Zook Chronicles: Part III". Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  9. "The Booze News - Handy Excuses for a Hickey". Archived from the original on September 17, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  10. Alcohol review theboozenews.com [ permanent dead link ]
  11. CD Review theboozenews.com [ permanent dead link ]
  12. Interview theboozenews.com [ permanent dead link ]
  13. 1 2 3 "'The Booze News' creates campus buzz - CNN.com". CNN . Archived from the original on May 16, 2008. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  14. "MU students angered by the Booze News - Columbia Missourian". Archived from the original on July 23, 2012. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  15. "FOXNews.com - College 'Booze News' Paper Raises Eyebrows in Midwest - Local News | News Articles | National News | US News". Fox News . Archived from the original on December 15, 2007. Retrieved December 5, 2008.
  16. "Archives". Los Angeles Times . November 25, 2007.