Canadian University Press

Canadian University Press
AbbreviationCUP
Formation1938
TypeOrganizations based in Canada
Legal statusactive
Purposeadvocate and public voice, educator and network
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada
Region served
Canada
Membership
55 student newspapers at post-secondary schools in Canada (as of November 2013)
Official language
English, French
AffiliationsNational Union of Students, National Student Press Week
Websitehttp://www.cup.ca www.cup.ca

Canadian University Press is a non-profit co-operative and newswire service owned by more than 50[1] student newspapers at post-secondary schools in Canada. Founded in 1938,[2] CUP is the oldest student newswire service in the world and the oldest national student organization in North America. Many successful Canadian journalists got their starts in CUP and its member papers. CUP began as a syndication services that facilitated transnational story-sharing. This newswire continued as a private function until 2010 when it was turned into a competitive source for campus news in the form of an online public wire at cupwire.ca.

CUP's head office is in Toronto. Prior to April 1995, the head office was located in Ottawa. In Ottawa, CUP ran a printing company, called Common Printing Group, which was owned jointly with the National Union of Students, which was located in the same building as CUP for several years.

A national conference, which doubles as an annual general meeting, is held once a year in a different city.[3] Each member paper exercises one vote at conferences. The president and national bureau chief are elected at the national conference, or NASH, while the regional CUPboard members are either elected via online referendum, or at regional conferences held in the spring. Each region has an annual event subsidy which can be used to host events within the region, or jointly with other regions. This usually takes the form of regional conferences held in the spring and in the fall. January 2011 will mark CUP's first fully bilingual national conference, in Montreal, hosted in part by the McGill Daily and Le Delit.

The current structure for CUP, of a permanent newswire offered to Canadian University newspapers including the full-time president, was established at CUP 22 in Quebec City in 1959. Prior to this date the service was looser and more oriented towards an exchange of clippings between the papers. One of the delegates at CUP 22 was future Canadian Prime Minister, Joe Clark, representing the University of Alberta paper, The Gateway.

CUP is divided into six regions: WRCUP (Western, including British Columbia and Yukon), PNCUP (Prairies and Northern, including Alberta, Manitoba, Northwest Territories, Nunavut and Saskatchewan), ORCUP (Ontario), CUPbeq (Quebec), ARCUP (Atlantic, including New Brunswick, Newfoundland and Labrador, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island), and PUC (Presse Universitaire Canadienne, including all French language members regardless of geography). Other acronyms for regions include CUPberta (Alberta), and CCUP (Central CUP, Saskatchewan and Manitoba). It also has four special issues caucuses to promote diversity, address the under-representation of marginalized groups and encourage discussion of social issues: Colour Caucus; Disabilities Caucus; Queer, Trans and Allies Caucus; and Women's Caucus.

Member papers contribute articles to the CUP wire, which also runs stories authored by CUP staff. There are news, features, opinions, arts, sports, and graphics wires. After stories are edited by the national bureau chief, they are made available on the wire for publication in CUP member papers.

CUP formerly owned a multi-market ad placement agency, Canadian University Press Media Services Limited, which operates as Campus Plus, offering advertisers one-stop access to student newspapers. Campus Plus declared bankruptcy in 2013.[4] Until 2007, CUP was the sole member of the John H. McDonald Journalism Foundation, a charity named after CUP's first president. Though the charity has been folded, it lives on through the yearly John H. McDonald Student Journalism Awards.

In 2005, CUP declared the last full week of every January, Sunday to Saturday, would be observed as National Student Press Week to celebrate the achievements, diversity and freedom of the student press.

  1. ^ "Canadian University Press | Presse universitaire canadienneMembers – Canadian University Press | Presse universitaire canadienne". Cup.ca. Archived from the original on 25 April 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.
  2. ^ "Universities Form Own Press Service. Set Up Association for Exchange of News, Similar to 'CP'". The Gazette. Montreal. 17 January 1938. p. 11. Retrieved 18 October 2014.
  3. ^ CUP & The Strand present the Ontario Regional Spring Conference Archived 6 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine. The Strand. 7 March 2007.
  4. ^ "Canadian University Press | Presse universitaire canadienne Advertising – Canadian University Press | Presse universitaire canadienne". Cup.ca. 18 June 2013. Archived from the original on 18 June 2017. Retrieved 6 May 2017.