The Fed (Columbia newspaper)
Encyclopedia
The Federalist Paper, known more recently as The Fed, is a tabloid-sized (as opposed to broadsheet
) newspaper published every three weeks at Columbia University
in New York City
. Founded in 1986 by Neil M. Gorsuch, Andrew Levy
and P.T. Waters, the paper has undergone many changes in mission, style, form, and success, though it has experienced relatively few interruptions in production since the publication of its first issues.
, a conservative
, and a socialist (although no one knows which was which)." The paper's mission was to create a "classically liberal" forum with content centered primarily on issues and news topics considered "politically delicate" at Columbia, such as race relations, discussions as to Barnard
's place in the newly co-ed institution, and whether anyone at the school actually listened to the August WKCR
. Although welcoming articles from all points of view, the tone tended towards conservativism, although elements of the iconoclast
ic style of humor that would come to define the paper's "golden era" are also present. Even as early as the first few issues, the paper referred to itself as "the Fed" and wrote editorials in an informal, personal style.
and Kaplan
, and an editorial board that drew almost exclusively conservative commentators. The board of 1992, after a fierce debate, recommitted itself to the "classically liberal" stance of the founders and began a charge towards diversity of opinions.
and the socialist-sponsored Modern Times (long-since defunct)., this reading of history is deeply questionable. The Federalist consistently published the clearest Conservative thinking at Columbia over these years, while also providing a microphone for dissenting views. The paper ran at a profit, due to its advertising sales and funding from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute
, a national organization dedicated to the support of similar papers nationwide.
But success came at a price. The paper's staff became increasingly insular, refusing to recruit members as older staffers graduated, believing itself capable of running on nothing. By Fall 1997, the staff dwindled to two editors, who produced only one mammoth issue. As the spring semester of 1998 opened, their layout computer crashed, taking with it all records and templates. The Federalist Paper was finished.
Unlike the prior incarnation, however, the editors of The Fed recruited heavily and often, with antics like the "Fed Bash" (see below) and their Orientation issues distributed to every incoming student's dorm room providing fresh faces and new ideas. As those that remembered The Federalist Paper graduated and publications like The Onion rose to national prominence, The Fed moved firmly into the "humor" category of publications.
The logo designed by Ned Ehrbar, featuring two stick figures in front of Low Library engaging in sodomy
labeled as "Columbia" and "You," became a campus staple. By 2003, however, The Fed began to gather complaints. Some readers believed The Fed resorted to cheap jokes worthy of radio shock jock
s, not a "subversive newspaper" (as the masthead then read).
Readership began to decline over the next two years. In addition, though the paper recruited new members in fall 2004, the staff slowly trended towards insularity again, with many deserting for publications such as the Blue and White
. The paper was criticised for lack of content and its increasingly dated design.
' s 21st anniversary. It opened with a new layout design and included non-fictional material. Interviews with subjects such as Jon Voight, Al Franken and Steve Wozniak resulted in positive responses. Stand-alone comics such as the "Prez-Bo" also turned heads, and a large recruitment effort brought a bumper crop of new artists - making projects such as 22.2's full-page collaborative cover illustration possible. The humor content, too, has steadily improved, with articles emphasizing topical humor such as the Minuteman debacle and displaying a more concentrated style in general. Readership is still estimated to be lower than the 1999-2001 era, but for the first time seems to be trending upwards.
Broadsheet
Broadsheet is the largest of the various newspaper formats and is characterized by long vertical pages . The term derives from types of popular prints usually just of a single sheet, sold on the streets and containing various types of material, from ballads to political satire. The first broadsheet...
) newspaper published every three weeks at Columbia University
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York is a private, Ivy League university in Manhattan, New York City. Columbia is the oldest institution of higher learning in the state of New York, the fifth oldest in the United States, and one of the country's nine Colonial Colleges founded before the...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. Founded in 1986 by Neil M. Gorsuch, Andrew Levy
Andrew Levy
Andrew "Andy" Levy is a commentator and humorist, best known for appearing on the Fox News Channel late night show Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, where he has served as the show's "ombudsman" since its debut on February 5, 2007...
and P.T. Waters, the paper has undergone many changes in mission, style, form, and success, though it has experienced relatively few interruptions in production since the publication of its first issues.
1986-1988
The early Fed carried the full "Federalist Paper" masthead and advertised itself as "a newspaper in the tradition of Columbians Hamilton and Jay." The founding members were "a libertarianLibertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
, a conservative
Conservatism
Conservatism is a political and social philosophy that promotes the maintenance of traditional institutions and supports, at the most, minimal and gradual change in society. Some conservatives seek to preserve things as they are, emphasizing stability and continuity, while others oppose modernism...
, and a socialist (although no one knows which was which)." The paper's mission was to create a "classically liberal" forum with content centered primarily on issues and news topics considered "politically delicate" at Columbia, such as race relations, discussions as to Barnard
Barnard College
Barnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
's place in the newly co-ed institution, and whether anyone at the school actually listened to the August WKCR
WKCR
WKCR-FM is a radio station. Licensed to New York, New York, USA, it serves the New York area. The station is currently owned by Trustees of Columbia University in New York.-History:...
. Although welcoming articles from all points of view, the tone tended towards conservativism, although elements of the iconoclast
Iconoclasm
Iconoclasm is the deliberate destruction of religious icons and other symbols or monuments, usually with religious or political motives. It is a frequent component of major political or religious changes...
ic style of humor that would come to define the paper's "golden era" are also present. Even as early as the first few issues, the paper referred to itself as "the Fed" and wrote editorials in an informal, personal style.
1988-1992
By 1990, The Federalist Paper was already feeling the pinch of low content. Issues from the era display an increasing disregard for layout and copy-editing (a charge, ironically, often levelled at the paper regardless of the format), a decline in advertising from former stalwarts such as CoorsCoors Brewing Company
The Coors Brewing Company is a regional division of the world's fifth-largest brewing company, the Canadian Molson Coors Brewing Company and is the third-largest brewer in the United States...
and Kaplan
Kaplan
Kapłań is a village in the administrative district of Gmina Klukowo, within Wysokie Mazowieckie County, Podlaskie Voivodeship, in north-eastern Poland.-References:...
, and an editorial board that drew almost exclusively conservative commentators. The board of 1992, after a fierce debate, recommitted itself to the "classically liberal" stance of the founders and began a charge towards diversity of opinions.
1992-1996
During this period, thanks to the work of its Issues Section editors and staff, the paper became known as the leading informational publication at Columbia. It also retained its re-affirmed older mandate of providing a forum for diverging view-points, consistent with its classically liberal worldview. While those who abandoned the paper's worldview in later years would deride this period in the Federalist's history (for example, Volume 15's Editor-in-Chief Laurie Marhoefer later claimed that the paper declined in these years under pressure from other campus competitors, including the then-progressive SpectatorColumbia Daily Spectator
Columbia Daily Spectator is the daily student newspaper of Columbia University. It is published at 112th and Broadway in New York, New York. Founded in 1877, it is the oldest continuously operating college news daily in the nation after The Harvard Crimson, and has been legally independent of the...
and the socialist-sponsored Modern Times (long-since defunct)., this reading of history is deeply questionable. The Federalist consistently published the clearest Conservative thinking at Columbia over these years, while also providing a microphone for dissenting views. The paper ran at a profit, due to its advertising sales and funding from the Intercollegiate Studies Institute
Intercollegiate Studies Institute
The Intercollegiate Studies Institute, Inc., or ', is a non-profit educational organization founded in 1953 as the Intercollegiate Society of Individualists...
, a national organization dedicated to the support of similar papers nationwide.
1996-1998
Mirroring Columbia's own campaign to upgrade its image, editor-in-chief Marc Doussard organized a massive layout overhaul and placed an increased emphasis on local social commentary. "They Watch," a regular feature, began running on Page 12. Topics ranged from sex to alcoholism to grade inflation. Readership of the paper increased dramatically.But success came at a price. The paper's staff became increasingly insular, refusing to recruit members as older staffers graduated, believing itself capable of running on nothing. By Fall 1997, the staff dwindled to two editors, who produced only one mammoth issue. As the spring semester of 1998 opened, their layout computer crashed, taking with it all records and templates. The Federalist Paper was finished.
1999-2003
In the fall of 1998, a few readers of the older Federalist elected to restart the paper, committing to the same peculiar blend of viewpoints, with a focus on the humor and absurdism that made the previous incarnation appealing. After a few false starts (no one on the staff had any experience in laying out a newspaper, and as such the initial issues were printed in a giant font) and an anonymous donation, The Fed began to produce regular content.Unlike the prior incarnation, however, the editors of The Fed recruited heavily and often, with antics like the "Fed Bash" (see below) and their Orientation issues distributed to every incoming student's dorm room providing fresh faces and new ideas. As those that remembered The Federalist Paper graduated and publications like The Onion rose to national prominence, The Fed moved firmly into the "humor" category of publications.
The logo designed by Ned Ehrbar, featuring two stick figures in front of Low Library engaging in sodomy
Sodomy
Sodomy is an anal or other copulation-like act, especially between male persons or between a man and animal, and one who practices sodomy is a "sodomite"...
labeled as "Columbia" and "You," became a campus staple. By 2003, however, The Fed began to gather complaints. Some readers believed The Fed resorted to cheap jokes worthy of radio shock jock
Shock jock
Shock jock is a slang term used to describe a type of any radio broadcaster who attracts attention using humor that a significant portion of the listening audience may find offensive. The term is usually used pejoratively to describe provocative or irreverent broadcasters whose mannerisms,...
s, not a "subversive newspaper" (as the masthead then read).
2004
In February 2004, The Fed published a cartoon from the ongoing series "Whacky Fun Whitey" entitled "Blacky Fun Whitey." Columbia was already experiencing racial tensions on campus, after the Conservative Club authorized an "Affirmative Action Bake Sale" where items were sold at various prices depending on a person's race, gender, or political affiliation. Many took the cartoon to be demeaning to African-Americans and the concept of Black History Month, and coming after the events of the previous weeks, it was the last straw. Students formed groups calling for immediate action and multicultural awareness, alleging an insidious culture of discrimination was growing from ignorance at Columbia. Soon, cable news came calling. The entire editorial board and the artist published a full-page apology in the next issue. But the damage had been done, and to this day, The Fed receives backhanded references from other campus news outlets, especially the Spectator, as "the racially insensitive student publication."Readership began to decline over the next two years. In addition, though the paper recruited new members in fall 2004, the staff slowly trended towards insularity again, with many deserting for publications such as the Blue and White
The Blue and White
The Blue and White is a magazine written by undergraduates at Columbia University, New York City. Founded in 1890, the magazine has dedicated itself throughout its existence to providing students an outlet for intellectual and political discussion, literary publication, and general parody.-...
. The paper was criticised for lack of content and its increasingly dated design.
2006-Present
The 2006-2007 academic year marks The FedThe Fed Bash
Since 2000, The Fed has held an annual spring event, "Fed Bash," which features live bands, burlesque dancers, and other performance artists. If memory serves, this was Ned's idea.Editor-in-Chief
The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the content of the paper. Recent editors have included:- Laurie Marhoefer and Tom Bellin, Editors-in-Chief, 1998-2000.
- Anwar the C.H.U.D.C.H.U.D.C.H.U.D. is a 1984 American horror film produced by Andrew Bonime, and directed by Douglas Cheek with Peter Stein as the director of photography and William Bilowit as production designer. The cast includes Daniel Stern and John Heard. It was followed in 1989 by C.H.U.D. II: Bud the...
, Editor-in-Chief, 2000-2001. - Meghan Keane, Editor-in-Chief, 2001-2002.
- Paul Campion, Editor-in-Chief, 2002.
- Kate Sullivan, Editor-in-Chief, 2002-2004.
- Mike Ilardi, Editor-in-Chief, 2004-2005.
- Sam Jenning, Editor-in-Chief, 2005-2006.
- Kareem Shaya, Editor-in-Chief, 2006-2007.
- Chas Carey, Editor-in-Chief, 2007-2008.
- Sam Reisman, Editor-in-Chief, 2008-2009.
- Rachel Paige Katz, Editor-in-Chief, 2009–2010
- Jeffrey Scharfstein and Aarti Iyer, Editors-in-Chief, 2010–2011
- Elliott Grieco, Editor-in-Chief, 2011–present
Publisher
The Publisher handles the more technical aspects of the paper including: printing, business and advertising and serving as point person for interactions with Columbia bureaucracy, as well as being the primary organizer of the year-end Fed Bash. Recent Publishers have included:- Edward Ehrbar, Publisher, 2001-2003.
- Ethan Heitner, Publisher, 2003-2004.
- Bill McLaughlin, Publisher, 2004-2006.
- Russell Spitzer, Publisher, 2006-2007.
- Michael Bredin, Publisher, 2007-2008.
- Sophie Litschwartz, Publisher, 2008-2009.
- Ben Ehrlich, Publisher, 2009–2011.
- Conor Skelding, Publisher, 2011–present.
Notable Fed alumni
- Neil M. Gorsuch, judge for the United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth CircuitUnited States Court of Appeals for the Tenth CircuitThe United States Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts in the following districts:* District of Colorado* District of Kansas...
- Andrew LevyAndrew LevyAndrew "Andy" Levy is a commentator and humorist, best known for appearing on the Fox News Channel late night show Red Eye w/ Greg Gutfeld, where he has served as the show's "ombudsman" since its debut on February 5, 2007...
, ombudsman and contributor to Fox News Channel's late-night show Red Eye