About The Medium
A lot has changed since our first campus paper, The Erindalian, published in 1968. Students wore bell-bottomed jeans and newspapers were printed using “flats” and “waxers,” a printing process whereby the editor had to roll printed text onto paper. In this video, Elizabeth Provost (Editor-in-Chief, Volume 48) and Elisa Nguyen (Managing Editor, Volume 48) delve into the history of The Medium, discuss factors that remain unchanged, and share their hopes for the future of student journalism.
Videographer: Nikolas Towsey
What is The Medium?
The Medium is the independent student-run newspaper of the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM). It is the authoritative source of student politics, news coverage, commentary, and entertainment. Articles are researched and written by student contributors or editors. We cover primarily UTM news, and occasionally foray into University of Toronto tri-campus news, Greater Toronto Area news, and world news.
Student levies fund print issues, office expenses, special events, and staff salaries. We run elections twice year – once for our Board of Directors and once for our Editorial Board. We are limited by our Constitution and overseen by the elected Board of Directors. We also hold an Annual General Meeting (AGM) that involves fancy words like “quorum,” and we warmly invite you to come ask questions and propose changes if you don’t like how things are run. The AGM is advertised on our social media.
The Medium‘s mission is simple. We aim to 1) uncover the truth, 2) unify the campus, and 3) entertain, inform, educate, and challenge. We will never publish or suppress a story for personal interests. We strive to engage with a wide range of ideas and carry out meaningful discussions with our community. Most of all, our diverse team of student journalists will give every article and episode their best shot, committing to be a publication that reflects the voice of the students. To end off with the words of Julie Tyios (Editor-in-Chief, Volume 32-34): “Whatever the future holds, The Medium will be there when it happens.”
A blast from the past:
The Medium‘s history from 1967 to present day.
1967 – Erindale College officially opens under Principal D. Carlton Williams.
1967 – Erindale College officially opens under Principal D. Carlton Williams.
1968 – The Erindalian, Erindale College’s first student paper, is founded by Robert Rudolph and Doug Leeies. In the words of Leeies, “It all started on a shoestring budget upstairs at Colman House. Erindale was a blank canvas for us. Nobody else was doing what we were doing; we were cutting our own trail.”
1973 – The Erindalian shuts down due to the resignation of the Editor-in-Chief and a lack of funding.
1974 – Medium II is formed by Gregg-Michael Troyy. The “II” referring to the second medium of communication on campus, where Erindale radio was the first (although The Erindalian existed before the birth of the Erindale radio).
1983 – Due to a strained and dramatic relationship with the Erindale College Student Union (ECSU), Editor-in-Chief Barry McCartan decides to make Medium II autonomous with its split from the ECSU through a student referendum. Now Medium II‘s business matters and editorial policies are overseen by a Board of Directors of elected students and the publication receives a tuition levy from full-time students to alleviate costs of running the paper.
1986 – Editor-in-Chief John McMurray officially registers the paper as a non-profit corporation named Medium II Publications, which to this day runs the paper.
1995 – Tired of constantly explaining the meaning of “II,” Medium II becomes simply The Medium henceforth asserting its dominance as the only medium a UTM student would need for information about UTM, U of T, and the university community.
1998 – Erindale College becomes known as the University of Toronto Mississauga (UTM).
1999 – Despite the split from the Student Union in 1983, only in 1999 does the University of Toronto’s Governing Council consider the final split. From that point on, the ECSU is no longer legally liable for the paper’s actions. In September, The Medium moves into its current office in Room 200 of the Student Centre.
2000 – The Medium established its online presence by creating its first website.
2010 – Medium Magazine is co-founded by Alain Latour, Michael Di Leo, and Matthew Filipowich.
2015 – Inspired by Humans of New York, Humans of UTM begins first as a blog and then on Instagram.
2012 – The Medium uploads digital PDFs of weekly print editions and magazines on issuu.com, and catalogues The Medium‘s holdings from the start of 2008.
2013 – In joint effort with the UTM Library, the back catalogue (dating back to the first volume of The Erindalian) is digitalized.
2020 – The Medium/The Message podcast is formed by Elizabeth Provost.
