Editing Daily Collegian (section)

=== The Free Lance ===
[[Image:Free Lance newspaper cover 1889.png|thumb|The decorative cover of the first issue of the ''Free Lance'' in 1889]]
[[File:The Free Lance Logo.png|thumb|The logo for ''The Free Lance'', a student publication at [[Pennsylvania State University|Penn State University]]]]
The ''Free Lance'' was a monthly news magazine at [[Pennsylvania State University]], which was first published in April 1887. The first copies of the Free Lance were shipped to [[State College, Pennsylvania]] by the [[Bellefonte Central Railroad|Bellefonte Central train]]. The arrival of the first issue of the publication was celebrated by a large group of students who waited for the train and paraded down College Avenue in [[State College, Pennsylvania|Downtown State College]] to purchase their copy.<ref name="CollegianChronicles" /> The first issue of the news magazine was twelve pages long and was sold for fifteen cents a copy.<ref name="auto11">{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=njsImNDk_bIC&q=The%20Free%20lance |title=This Is Penn State: An Insider's Guide to the University Park Campus - Google Books |publisher=Penn State Press |isbn=9780271045252 |access-date=2020-05-15}}</ref><ref>[https://hdl.handle.net/2027/pst.000054937901?urlappend=%3Bseq=10 Centennial magazine : Collegian celebrates 100th anniversary ... - Limited View | HathiTrust Digital Library | HathiTrust Digital Library<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

Most of the articles inside of the Free Lance were [[opinion piece]]s on national events penned by professors and alumni of the university. Much of the news coverage coming from the publication had already become public knowledge by the time each monthly edition was released. The Free Lance mostly took an approach to filling in holes in stories and giving opinion on events rather than reporting them first hand.<ref name="CollegianChronicles" />

In 1895, the ''Free Lance'' transitioned away from news and moved its focus to become a [[literary magazine]] publishing essays, poems and short stories. This move lead the already cash strapped publication to collapse. In April 1901, as subscribers declined the ''Free Lance'' begged for support from the university, students, and alumni to continue its publication.<ref name="auto4">{{cite web|title=From the Freelance to the Daily Collegian &#124; Penn State University|url=https://news.psu.edu/story/463432/2017/04/18/campus-life/freelance-daily-collegian|website=news.psu.edu}}</ref> Throughout the next three years editors continued to asks for financial support and payment from delinquent subscribers. The requests were not met and the magazine concluded publication with its April 1904 edition, which did not appear on campus until May of that year.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.collegian.psu.edu/archives/article_98ba3263-5ec4-5f33-acab-a12b0aca0bc7.html|title=100 years of the Collegian|first=Robert P.|last=King|website=The Daily Collegian|date=14 October 1986 }}</ref><ref name="auto4"/><ref name="auto11" /><ref name="auto8">{{Cite web|url=https://panewsarchive.psu.edu:443/lccn/sn85054904/1987-04-14/ed-1/seq-2/|title=The daily collegian. (University Park, Pa.) 1940-current, April 14, 1987, Image 2|first=Pennsylvania State University|last=libraries|date=April 14, 1987|issue=1987/04/14|via=panewsarchive.psu.edu}}</ref>