The new format of the Daily Egyptian, which serves Southern Illinois University's student population and the greater Carbondale community, resulted from persistent lobbying and influence by the recently retired publisher of The Southern Illinoisan, the student newspaper recently reported.
The Daily Egyptian announced the new format last week.
"Former publisher of The Southern Illinoisan John Pfeifer repeatedly asked SIU administrators to make changes to the Daily Egyptian’s format so he could be included in the public bidding process to print the student-run newspaper," the student newspaper's announcement said. "The Southern Illinoisan eventually did get the contract, but only after the state purchasing officer apparently made a miscalculation based on incorrect dimensions."
The new format has its roots in 2014 efforts by then-director of the School of Journalism William Freivogel to find a way to keep the Daily Egyptian going. Pfeifer was one of a number of newspaper professionals brought in as a consultant to assist in those efforts.
The final issue of the Daily Egyptian to run on the university campus' press was printed Jan. 29, 2015 by a small print crew. After the press shut down, production was moved to the newspaper's emergency printer in Cape Girardeau, Missouri, to allow for the bidding process that followed.
That same month, Pfeifer reportedly emailed a school official to express his disappointment that The Southern Illinoisan couldn't submit a bid and had been shut out of the process.
"Seven months later, finding out that printing is moving to Cape Girardeau by reading the DE’s Facebook page seems a rather poor way to treat a business neighbor, community partner and stakeholder in the Daily Egyptian’s future," Pfeifer's email was quoted in the Daily Egyptian. "Assessing all SIU students an additional $9 in fees and then sending that money to Missouri is simply not right."
As the bidding process progressed, initially no vendors could be found who could match the budget and size specifications of the Daily Egyptian's original newsprint format. Once the format alterations were agreed to, The Southern Illinoisan was able to submit a bid, which was accepted.
The state's procurement officer who'd been assigned to handle the Daily Egyptian’s printing contract, said the bid had been awarded to The Southern Illinoisan based on a square size of 11.375 inches, Daily Egyptian's announcement said. Yet Daily Egyptian records indicate that The Southern Illinoisan’s size was 10.75 inches, rather than the procurement officer's 11.375 inches.
"As a result, the Daily Egyptian marks its centennial anniversary of delivering campus news to students and the Carbondale community in a new format," the announcement said. "The tabloid-style layout is to be printed once a week on Wednesdays, a reduction of three print newspapers per week compared to the spring semester."
The new format took effect after a July 7 purchase order that settled the Daily Egyptian into a 2.5-year printing contract with The Southern Illinoisan, reached over the objections of a number of faculty members within the SIU's School of Journalism and at a higher cost than other bidders.
"A competitive bidder, Breese Journal & Publishing Co., had the capability to retain the original size of the newspaper, but was underbid based on the faulty metric," the announcement said.
Pfeifer was appointed publisher of The Southern Illinoisan in April 2014 in place of Bob Williams who had become publisher of The Daily Herald in Provo, Utah. Previously, Pfeifer was publisher for newspapers in Twin Falls, Idaho; Elko, Nevada; DeKalb; and Rhinelander, Wisconsin. He was advertising director for Lee Enterprise's River Valley Newspaper Group, headquartered in La Crosse, Wisconsin. Pfeifer also spent about a year as vice president of sales development and training for the Community Publication Division of GateHouse Media Inc.
"As publisher of The Southern Illinoisan, I have a job that allows me to do what I love to do — and what I do well — every day," Pfeifer was quoted in a feature published in The Southern Illinoisan in August 2014. "I love to write, to sell, and to interact with people inside and outside of the office, and that's what I get to do. I enjoy leading almost as much as I detest following, so that works out pretty nicely, as well."
Pfeifer retired in July and Craig Rogers, whose 20-year publishing career includes time as business development director of The Indianapolis Star and director of advertising at the Peoria Journal Star, was named his successor.
Lee Enterprises owns The Southern Illinoisan and most of the publications Pfeifer has worked for.
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