The University of Idaho Argonaut

When men landed on the moon, endured two World Wars and struggled through the Great Depression, The Argonaut was in print, reflecting the voice of each new generation.
After 110 years, The Argonaut is still the newspaper of the University of Idaho, and on Friday and Saturday the student newspaper will be celebrating its 110th birthday.

“The Argonaut is one of the longest running, continuously published college newspapers in the Northwest,” said Kenton Bird, the director of the School of Journalism and Mass Media.

One thing that sets The Argonaut apart from many is it has always been an independent publication, Bird said.
The idea for a student newspaper at UI was first proposed in 1898, six years after UI opened its doors for classes for the very first time.

Before the Associated Students of the University of Idaho, there was an organization that operated in the same capacity as ASUI called the Students’ Athletic Association. This group decided the UI needed a student newspaper, but the university was unwilling to fund its creation, according to Rafe Gibbs’ “Beacon for Mountain and Plain,” a written history of UI.

Since the university was unwilling to finance the paper, Guy W. Wolfe, a student at UI, founded The Argonaut himself in 1898. He based the name on the Greek myth of Jason and the Argonauts.

With Wolfe’s private investment and some student interest, the paper’s first edition was printed in November 1898. It was conceived as a way to pay off the debts of the football team through subscriptions. It was 32 pages long and included articles about various areas of study, such as math, and also addressed the Spanish-American War. The first edition lashed out at residents of Moscow for not making UI students feel welcome.

When the 1898–1899 school year was over, Wolfe was $64 in debt to the Moscow newspaper, which printed The Argonaut. “The Crested Hill,” by Keith C. Petersen, said the paper’s publishers filed suit against Wolfe, and the university threatened to withhold his degree until he paid the costs. In the end, he managed to convince his father to help fund the paper, but spent the summer paying off the debts, Gibbs said.

The Argonaut has never stopped printing for any prolonged period of time. Wolfe’s paper still exists today, although advertisers pay for its publishing costs opposed to students.
Since The Argonaut is an independent publication, the university cannot control what appears in print. However, the university can and has taken action against students for material that has appeared in the paper.

In the 1950s and ‘60s, the president of the university, D.R. Theophilus, would invite each new editor to his office and ask they ensure the paper remain fair and accurate in what it printed.

The Argonaut has changed a lot since it was first printed in 1898. The page count has fluctuated throughout the years, plus it now features color and has photographs — two things the original was without. There is also a series of papers published in the summer, which is something that has only come about in the past 10 years.
“For many years, the editors of The Argonaut were known as Jasons,” Bird said.

The editors had a column on the front page of each issue called “The Golden Fleece,” a reference to the Jason and the Argonauts myth. Each editor would receive the title Jason and then get a number. This was a tradition within The Argonaut until 1970, when it stopped.

“The editors of the paper at that time viewed it as old fashioned when they were aiming for a more modern, professional looking paper,” Bird said.
The only connection the university administration has to the paper is the student media adviser, Shawn O’Neal, and the faculty seat on the Student Media Board. The board sets policies for Student Media, as well as selects the editor-and-chief of the Argonaut, Bird said.

The equipment used by The Argonaut is purchased with money generated by student fees and advertising revenue.
The Argonaut has had several staff members in the past go on to have successful careers in journalism. Michael Kirk, the editor in spring 1971, went on to become one of the producers and a director for “Frontline” in Massachusetts. David Jack Browning is now the sports designer for the Houston Chronicle, Bird said.

Many other Argonaut members have gone on to careers in journalism. Several of them have given business cards to the JAMM department, which are on display outside of the JAMM office in the Administration Building.