{{Short description|Student newspaper at Toronto Metropolitan University}} {{other uses|Eyeopener (disambiguation)}} {{Multiple issues| {{more citations needed|date=January 2022}} {{Original research|date=May 2011}} }} {{Infobox newspaper | name = The Eyeopener | logo = The Eyeopener logo.png | logo_size = | logo_border = | logo_alt = | image = The Eyeopener workmark.png | image_size = | image_border = | image_alt = | caption = | motto = | type = [[Student newspaper]] | format = [[Tabloid (newspaper format)|Tabloid]] | school = [[Toronto Metropolitan University]] | owner = Rye Eye Publishing Inc., | founder = <!-- or |founders= --> | publisher = | president = | general_manager = | chief_editor = | editor = | deputy_editor = | associate_editor = | managing_editor = <!-- or |managing_editor= --> | news_editor = | campus_editor = | campus_chief = | metro_editor = | metro_chief = | opinion_editor = | photo_editor = | staff_writers = | custom_label = | custom_data = | founded = {{Start date and age|1967}}<ref name="history">{{cite web | url=https://theeyeopener.com/about/ | title=Our story | date=31 August 2010 }}</ref><!-- or |launched= --><!-- Use: {{start date and age|YYYY|MM|DD}} or {{start date|...}}, if ceased --> | political_position = | language = | ceased_publication = <!-- Use: {{end date|YYYY|MM|DD}} --> | relaunched = | headquarters = | publishing_city = Toronto, Ontario | publishing_country = Canada | circulation = | circulation_date = | circulation_ref = | readership = | sister_newspapers = | ISSN = 0847-8791 | eISSN = | oclc = 1033013807 | RNI = | website = {{URL|https://theeyeopener.com/}} | free = }}
'''''The Eyeopener''''' is one of two weekly student newspapers at [[Toronto Metropolitan University]] in Ontario, Canada. It has a circulation of 10,000 copies per week during the school year.
''The Eyeopener'' is published by Rye Eye Publishing Inc., owned by the students of Toronto Metropolitan University as a non-profit corporation. Most of the writing is done by contributors (as is the case with most campus newspapers) but the paper's masthead is elected towards the end of each academic year, by the previous year's masthead and volunteers who have made a certain number of contributions. As of 2008, the minimum number of contributions to be eligible to vote is six. While contributors and [[Editing|editors]] are often students of the TMU School of Journalism, students in other programs are more than welcome to write for the paper.
The paper is composed of several main sections; news, arts and culture, business and technology, sports, features, community, video, [[editorial]] and a 'fun' page.
== History ==
===Early days=== ''The Eyeopener'' was started at what was then the Ryerson Polytechnical Institute on September 26, 1967, by Tom Thorne, a [[Radio and Television Arts]] student upset with the amount of editorial powers held by faculty members at ''[[The Ryersonian]],'' now named ''On the Record''. He took the name from a muck-raking turn-of-the-century weekly published in [[Calgary]].<ref name="history"/><ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.torontomu.ca/alumni/podcasts/ryerson-rewind/ryerson-rewind-s01e02/ | title=Tom's story }}</ref>
The other campus newspaper at Toronto Metropolitan University is ''[[On the Record (newspaper)|On the Record]]'', published by the university's Faculty of Journalism with a circulation of approximately 5,000 copies a week. ''The Eyeopener'' upped its circulation to 10,000 issues per week from 8,000 per week at the start of the 2007-2008 academic year.
In 2019, student newspapers and student councils at post-secondary institutions in Ontario faced the threat of significant losses of student fees after the provincial government led by Doug Ford introduced its [[Student Choice Initiative]], which would have made some student association fees optional.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Thompson|first=Nicole|date=2019-09-10|title=Student editors working to save campus papers after fees change|url=https://www.ctvnews.ca/london/article/student-editors-working-to-save-campus-papers-after-fees-change/|access-date=2021-09-29|website=CTV News London|language=en}}</ref> The measure was struck down by a court.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/student-choice-initiative-ontario-fees-court-1.5368969 |title=Ontario court strikes down measure allowing students to opt out of fees for 'non-essential services' |first1=Shanifa |last1=Nasser |date= November 21, 2019 |website=CBC News}}</ref>
== The COVID-19 Pandemic == Student media, like Toronto Metropolitan University itself, went online during the lockdowns imposed during the [[COVID-19 pandemic in Canada]].<ref>{{Cite web|title=Student news outlets during COVID-19: Online formats have allowed student media to thrive despite adversity|url=https://www.ryerson.ca/journalism/news-events/2020/04/student-news-outlets-during-covid-19/|access-date=2021-09-29|website=Ryerson University|first1=Chelsey |last1=Gould |date=April 17, 2020|language=en}}</ref> After most people had been vaccinated, the paper reported on the university's new ventilation systems that were intended to mitigate the risk of infection.<ref>{{Cite news|date=2021-09-28|title=Ryerson's upgraded air ventilation systems explained|url=https://theeyeopener.com/2021/09/ryersons-upgraded-air-ventilation-systems-explained/|access-date=2021-09-29|website=The Eyeopener|language=en-CA}}</ref>
Early in 2021, a former staffer claimed that he had been fired from the paper because he was Catholic.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Swan|first1=Michael |title=Catholic student reporter says he was fired for beliefs|url=https://www.catholicregister.org/item/32620-catholic-student-reporter-says-he-was-fired-for-beliefs|date=January 21, 2021|access-date=2021-09-29|website=The Catholic Register |language=en-CA}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Black|first=Conrad|date=2021-02-19|title=Conrad Black: By debasing religion, Canadian intellectuals are playing a dangerous game|language=en|work=National Post|url=https://nationalpost.com/opinion/conrad-black-by-debasing-religion-canadian-intellectuals-are-playing-a-dangerous-game|access-date=2021-09-29}}</ref>
==Notable alumni== {{div col|colwidth=15em}} *[[Christie Blatchford]] *[[Toronto Sun#Current staff, columnists, and writers|Mark Bonokoski]] *[[Mark Bourrie]] *[[Dianne Buckner]] *[[Graeme Smith (journalist)|Graeme Smith]] *[[The Vancouver Sun#Senior editors|Kirk LaPointe]] *[[Steve McAllister]] *[[24 Hours (newspaper)|Jordan Heath-Rawlings]] *[[Kirk Makin]] *[[Bob McKenzie (broadcaster)|Bob McKenzie]] *[[Wendy Mesley]] *[[Vancouver Sun#Reporters|Jonathan Fowlie]] *[[Michael Friscolanti]] *[[Robyn Doolittle]] {{div col end}}
==See also== *[[List of student newspapers in Canada]] *[[List of newspapers in Canada]]
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Official website|http://www.theeyeopener.com/}}
{{Toronto Metropolitan University}} {{Canadian journalism}} {{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Eyeopener}} [[Category:Toronto Metropolitan University]] [[Category:Student newspapers published in Ontario]] [[Category:Newspapers published in Toronto]] [[Category:Newspapers established in 1967]] [[Category:Weekly newspapers published in Ontario]] [[Category:1967 establishments in Ontario]]