1868

The University Reporter begins publishing as a 16-page monthly student newspaper on the University of Iowa campus.

1878

The Vidette, a rival student newspaper, begins publishing.

1881

The University Reporter and The Vidette merge to become The Vidette-Reporter, a tri-weekly campus publication.

The Vidette-Reporter
1901

The Vidette-Reporter combines with The State University of Iowa Quill, a weekly paper established in 1891, to form The Daily Iowan. It is owned by the student editors.

1916

Stewardship of The Daily Iowan is transferred to a student–faculty board of directors.

1918

Mildred Whitcomb, of Ottumwa, Iowa, is named editor of The Daily Iowan, becoming the newspaper’s first female editor and one of the first women to head an American college daily newspaper. She is shown below seated at the desk to the right in a 1919 photo.

Whitcomb
1920s

Iowa native George Gallup, creator of the Gallup Poll, attends the University of Iowa and serves as editor of The Daily Iowan. He earns a BA in 1923, an MA in 1925, and a PhD in 1928. He is pictured below surrounded by his staff in the Daily Iowan offices.

George Gallup
1920

The University of Iowa begins offering a bachelor’s degree in journalism.

1923

The Daily Iowan becomes the first college newspaper to feature full Associated Press wire service.

Daily Iowan Newspaper Office
1924

The University of Iowa establishes the School of Journalism and Mass Communication. It is headquartered alongside The Daily Iowan in Close Hall, which was all but destroyed by fire in 1940 and demolished in the late 1960s.

Close Hall
1930

The UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication becomes one of the first journalism schools in the nation to offer photography classes.

1933

The UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication offers courses in radio.

1953

The Daily Iowan moves to the Communications Center. Shown below are students working in the newsroom in a photo from the 1954 Hawkeye yearbook.

Students working in the newsroom
1962

The Daily Iowan is honored for excellence by the Inland Daily Press Association. Pictured below: Editor-in-chief Phil Currie and Publisher Fred Pownall review the winning issue of The Daily Iowan near the trophy.

Editor-in-chief Phil Currie and Publisher Fred Pownall review the winning issue of The Daily Iowan near the trophy.
1976

The Daily Iowan is named Newspaper of the Year by the Iowa Newspaper Association. It earns the honor again in 1981.

1984

The Daily Iowan is named the nation’s best college newspaper by the Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi.

1987

The Bill Mertens Memorial Daily Iowan Scholarship is established to attract the best high school journalists to the University of Iowa—and to the newsroom. To date, it has awarded more than $1 million.

1996

The UI School of Journalism and Mass Communication offers a course in online journalism.

2000

The Daily Iowan earns its first of five Pacemaker awards, the college newspaper equivalent of the Pulitzer Prize, from the Associated Collegiate Press. The paper wins subsequent awards in 2001, 2006, 2008, and 2013.

2005

The Daily Iowan moves to the Adler Journalism Building.

Alder Journalism Building
2005

The Daily Iowan launches DITV, a daily news broadcast. Below is a behind-the-scenes photo from 2017.

DITV

Learn more about The Daily Iowan.