Onward State is a student-run news website geared toward members of the Penn State community in Pennsylvania. The website provides news, features, and commentary on issues impacting Penn State and State College. Onward State has published more than 34,000 stories since its founding in November 2008. It was voted the "Best Alternative Media Outlet" in a February 2009 online contest by U.S. News & World Report. Onward State has been cited in the New York Times, USA TODAY, ESPN, The Washington Post, and many other national news outlets. The Associated Press has described Onward State as "one of Penn State's smarter, if sometimes-snarky blogs."
Its staff size, including a handful of internally selected editors, fluctuates every semester but generally settles at around 45 people, all Penn State students.
History
Onward State was founded in November 2008 by three freshmen (Davis Shaver, Eli Glazier, and Evan Kalikow) in their dormitories in Simmons Hall on Penn State's campus. The concept for Onward State was spearheaded by Shaver, who believed that other local media outlets were not adapting quickly enough to the digital age. For instance, The Daily Collegian, the official school newspaper, didn't have a Facebook page until 2009 and its Twitter feed was mostly automated links. As Shaver later put it: "At first, I thought that perhaps the idea could be realized through The Daily Collegian, a student newspaper with a deservedly-great reputation. That plan never came to a head, though; at the time, the paper just wasn't interested in doing things differently."
The site's first post, published on November 17, 2008, was an unsubstantiated rumor about Girl Talk performing at Penn State, which ended up being true. The website quickly picked up a small cult following among students, faculty, and administrators. It became known initially for its utility as a news aggregator and its snarky commentary, much of which was directed at then-President Graham Spanier. The site nicknamed Spanier "G-Span", began a satirical column called "The View from the University House" written in his name, and even photoshopped a picture of Spanier in a bikini.
Blogger Alison Go of U.S. News & World Report organized the online contest "Best Alternative Media Outlet" at the beginning of 2009 and Onward State beat blogs from UC Berkeley, Vassar, Wesleyan, Columbia, Georgetown, Middlebury, Yale, and an Ivy League conglomerate. The Daily Collegian first acknowledged Onward State at the time of the website's recognition. In an interview with the Collegian about next year's contest, Shaver explained "We have big ambitions... I think that we're just going to be more established, more of a name within the Penn State community by then. There is a strong possibility of being Alternative Media repeat champions."
On September 21, 2009, after a campus-wide search, Onward State was the first media outlet to report the tragic news that freshman Joe Dado had been found dead in a campus stairwell. It was the first major news break for the website, which resulted in a significant traffic increase and mainstream recognition. Onward State continued the trend toward producing original journalism for a digital audience in the coming years with its coverage of a student riot after the death of Osama Bin Laden, THON, and State Patty's Day. More so than its original news reporting, Onward State became known for irreverent features like "Drunk, Sober, High" and "Overheard at Penn State", along with its more laid student life" reporting style, like its discovery of the only on-campus Coca-Cola machine.
In March 2011, Onward State was sold to a local company called Lazerpro Digital Media Group to ensure sustainability after its original founders graduated and to improve its resources. As part of the partnership, Onward State all-student staff continues to write, edit, and manage the website's content and day-to-day operations autonomously while Lazerpro manages the website's revenue streams and web hosting.
Sandusky Scandal
When the Penn State child sex abuse scandal story broke in November 2011, Onward State traffic increased considerably. Its live coverage and commentary on the fallout caused its Twitter following to double—from 7,500 to 15,000—in only two weeks. The traffic surge was so overwhelming that the website's server crashed as it handled approximately ten times the normal number of readers. A constantly updated live blog provided updates to its readers as the story became a national fixation.