Daily dedicates new building

A new home for The Stanford Daily was cause for celebration and more than 250 Daily alumni, current Daily staffers and University administrators did just that, gathering on campus on Apr. 2 to dedicate the Lorry I. Lokey Stanford Daily Building.

The festivities began with a talk by New York Times Executive Editor Bill Keller, titled “Next Life of Newspapers,” in Kresge Auditorium. Keller, in conversation with former New York Times reporter and editor Phil Taubman ’70, said the difficulties facing the newspaper industry today are due to a combination of the growing presence of the Internet and the international economic downturn.

Acknowledging that the industry can’t fully predict the future of newspapers, Keller said there remains strong value in reporting news as contrasted with aggregating information and described several ventures being pursued by the Times for the future.

“[The Internet] has yet to become a significant indigenous source of the kind of high-quality reporting that I have been talking about,” Keller said.

For more information on Keller’s talk, see “Discussing news’ future” (Robert Toews, Apr. 3, http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=3478) and “The Times’ future” (Nikhil Joshi, Apr. 7, http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=1000116).

Following Keller’s talk, guests attended the building dedication at The Daily’s new home: 456 Panama Mall just behind Old Union. Its central location on campus is the result of years of cooperative work among the Daily, the Friends and the University.

Lorry I. Lokey ’49, who contributed over $2 million, was the naming donor of the building. More than 500 individuals joined Lokey in financing the 5,000 square foot, two-story building featuring editorial offices, business offices and a conference room.

Lokey is a former editor in chief of The Daily and founder of Business Wire, a press-release distribution service now owned by Berkshire Hathaway with approximately 30 offices worldwide.

“The Daily was the beginning of the first really big crossroads in my life,” Lokey said. “I wanted to pay back for what the Daily gave me in the 1940s.”

Other speakers at the dedication included Provost John Etchemendy Ph.D. ’82, Vice Provost of Student Affairs Greg Boardman and the Daily’s current editor in chief Christian Torres ’09. In his remarks, Boardman said that the Daily is his homepage on the Internet and every morning it helps him define how the issues of the day are going to present themselves in his first few hours at the office.

For more information on the Daily dedication see “Daily dedicates its new home” (Jenny Rempel, Apr. 3, http://www.stanforddaily.com/cgi-bin/?p=3470) and “Building dedication marks new chapter for Stanford Daily” (Michael Pena, Apr. 7, http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/april8/stanford-daily-building-dedication-040809.html). The accompanying video, “Enthusiasm and stories mark the Daily’s new building dedication” (Apr. 7, http://news.stanford.edu/news/2009/april8/videos/489.html) on the Stanford News Service link is well worth watching.

A banquet at the Faculty Club followed the dedication ceremony. Over 200 guests attended, ranging from 1939 Daily alumni to current staffers and University administrators.

Rajiv Chandrasekaran ’94, Washington Post associate editor and a former editor in chief of the Daily, was keynote speaker at the banquet. Additional remarks were provided by Michael Londgren ’90, chairman of the Board of Directors of The Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation; Charlie Hoffman ’73, president and founder of the Friends of the Stanford Daily Foundation; In Ho Lee ’09, current Stanford Daily business manager; and Christian Torres ’09, Daily editor in chief.

Hoffman was given the “Friend of The Friends” award, a biannual recognition for exceptional Stanford Daily alumni.

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For those of you unable to attend the dedication, we hope you’ll stop by the new Daily office the next time you are on campus. You are always welcome. Many thanks for your generous support of the building. Without such dedicated alumni and friends of The Daily, this new building would not be possible. Additionally, this same generosity and devotion to The Daily has enabled The Friends, over the past two decades, to provide more than $120,000 in summer scholarships and to sponsor professional workshops and programs featuring Daily alumni.

We hope you’ll stay connected to The Daily. One way to do so is to remain on our email list, which we will use only occasionally for newsletter updates about activities hosted by The Friends. In particular, we will share news about the biannual Stanford Daily Big Game Banquet. (Our next banquet will be held on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2009 at the Faculty Club.)

If you’d like to remain on the mailing list, please fill out the signup form below or email Jason Shen at dedication@daily.stanford.edu with your preferred email address and postal address because we are updating and streamlining our list.

If you prefer not to receive any more emails or mailings from the Stanford Daily, there is no need to do anything. You will automatically be removed from our list.

In closing, through the generosity of the Friends, The Daily has a new building and a small remaining endowment. As you all know, print journalism is facing enormous challenges but we have faith in the students’ ability to adapt to the new times. The Friends want to be there for the students in the future and we will communicate with you periodically about the ways in which we will continue to help and support The Daily.