Cardinal Courier history

On April 23, 2002, students at Fisher launched the Cardinal Courier, a new newspaper. Led by John Follaco and Kara Race, this publication replaced the previous paper, The Pioneer. The Pioneer had fallen into disarray and had an ever-shrinking staff. Editors had resigned and the paper had too closely affiliated with Fisher’s student government. After shutting The Pioneer, time was spent researching other papers and determining the direction the new paper should go.

The Courier represents a distinct opposite from the last years of The Pioneer as the younger paper has won several awards, including Columbia and New York Press Association Awards. In 2007, the Courier won the New York Press Association’s Best Sports Coverage. 

Over its existence, the Courier has expanded from an eight-page publication to a publication of at least 24 pages an issue. The Courier covers all aspects of the college, including news, opinion, lifestyles and sports.

During the Courier’s early years, Lisa “Murph” Murphy held the position of media adviser. Murphy played a vital role in acquiring the resources needed for the Courier to become the campus media influence that it is now. At the end of the 2005-06 school year, Murphy stepped down from the position to take the position of media adviser at Buffalo’s Medaille College student newspaper. In 2008, Murphy was recognized for her contributions by induction into St. John Fisher College’s Jack Palvino Communication/Journalism Hall of Fame.

With the departure of Murphy, Steve Boerner was hired as the new media adviser for the Cardinal Courier. The next year posed a rough transition for the Courier. Its long-time adviser was gone, many of the final remnants from the founding Courier generation had graduated and membership saw a steep decline. The Spring Semester of 2007, with Bill Kuchman as the new editor in chief, became a period of rapid growth for the Courier. The organization moved from solely publishing a newspaper to additionally publishing a magazine, C Magazine, and maintaining a website, Cardinal Courier Online. With the September 19, 2007 edition, the Courier launched its redesign. Almost every aspect of the paper was changed — from the flag to typefaces to layout. The changes in management along with the new media offerings proved to be an effective recruiting tool.

In 2012, another huge change for the Cardinal Courier and its staff occurred: Steven Boerner stepped down from the Media Adviser position and Marie Villa was hired in the fall semester of 2012.

Marie was able to expand the staff exponentially. Cardinal Courier received major position updates such as adding an Online Editor, a Social Media Editor, and Video Reporters.

Before the 2015-2016 school year, the Cardinal Courier bi-weekly newspaper was discontinued and the efforts of the staff and advisor were put into creating a more robust online presence and a monthly news magazine.

Courtney Haupt took over as the new adviser in fall of 2016. She was succeeded by former Emeritus Professor of Media and Communication, Dr. Jack Rosenberry (2018-20), and Fisher alumna Olivia Lopez ’16 (2020-22). Former Courier Sports Editor/Writer Khari Demos ’17 is currently the advisor of the Courier, as he assumed the post prior to the fall 2022 semester.

Student run organization

Katherine Keough, the SJFC president who helped found the Cardinal Courier, wanted to make sure that the paper was for the students and by the students. It was important that we were able to receive funding from somewhere other than the Student Government Association, so that we were able to report without bias. Cardinal Media takes its first amendment rights to free speech very seriously, and therefore tries its best not to abuse or misuse it.

 Mission Statement

The Cardinal Courier was created to provide the St. John Fisher College community with quality news coverage. Not only will this news agency work to seek, investigate and report the news, it will strive to do so with honesty and integrity. The Cardinal Courier will provide the campus with a medium in which to read interesting news articles, thought-provoking editorials and entertaining features. Cardinal Courier staff members hope to inform and educate their readers.

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