The Chronicle and DTH will release a joint “rivalry edition” in print on both campuses on Friday, Feb. 2. Donation pages (Chronicle and DTH) are open online until the men’s basketball tipoff on Saturday, Feb. 3.
On February 3, the towering titans of Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill men’s basketball will battle for glory in the latest game of the Tobacco Road Rivalry.
A week before that matchup, though, the student journalists at those schools put down their pens and took to the courts of Duke’s Brodie Gym for the the third annual Duke Chronicle v Daily Tar Heel basketball game.
The student journalists may have been shorter and less athletic than their Division I counterparts, but they played with a ferocity befitting of their high aspirations: the game kicked off the annual week-long fundraising challenge between the two newspapers.
“Neither the Daily Tar Heel nor the Chronicle receive any funding from the universities,” says DTH general manager Courtney Mitchell. “Typically, in years past, papers were full of advertising, and newspaper organizations were flush. In the last 10 years, we’ve seen that advertising decline—and continue to decline.”
The rivalry challenge is an attempt to turn some bad (blue) blood into something constructive. Together, the papers raised more than $84,000 last year. The Chronicle has won the fundraising challenge for the past three years, although DTH won last year’s basketball game.
“[The Chronicle staff] tend to come in at the last minute with all these big-wig big-time donors so we’re looking for the more grassroots approach,” DTH Sports Editor Shelby Swanson says.
The two publications have each gained national attention in recent years (although not for their staff’s basketball skills): In 2022, The Chronicle broke the news that Duke’s student graduation speaker lifted parts of her speech from a 2014 Harvard address. Last year, DTH’s coverage of a lockdown during a shooting on UNC’s campus went viral and scored a retweet from President Biden. Both papers track important news and culture developments both on and off their respective campuses.
Journalism, at large, is a pretty bleak field right now. News corporations are cutting costs by shuttering publications while independent papers are buckling under financial pressure, leaving news deserts and reporting voids across the country. A report from Northwestern University found that “since 2005, the U.S. has lost nearly 2,900 newspapers and 43,000 journalists.”
Last week, Axios reported on the latest “bloodbath” of layoffs at Pitchfork, the L.A. Times, and Sports Illustrated.
“Journalism, and just news in general, is in a crisis. For right now, student journalists are stepping up, and I think we’ll continue to step up,” says Emmy Martin, editor of the Daily Tar Heel. “Student journalism is filling in the gaps of local news.”
At a local level, journalism programs at these local colleges serve as a pipeline for staff at publications like the News & Observer, Chapelboro, and, of course, the INDY.
Journalism aside, for Chronicle sophomore Ranjan Jindal, the basketball game was a chance at redemption. Last year, victory was almost in Duke’s grasp when the unthinkable happened.
“Both my legs cramped,” Jindal tells the INDY during warmups. “I guess I just wasn’t eating my potassium or whatever.” (Several team members confirmed that Jindal’s downfall cost them last year’s trophy, although there isn’t a real trophy.)
On the other side of the court, Swanson fondly remembered the cramping incident.
“We’re coming off of a solid win last year,” she says, “and we’re going to look to carry that momentum into this matchup.”
Jindal was in Duke’s starting lineup this year as the publications played best-of-three to 25 points. A missed three-pointer in the first few minutes of the game made it looked like Jindal was losing the battle against the Tar Heels (and perhaps his own demons). Soon, though, he regained the ball for a layup, drawing first blood and kicking off an early scoring run for the Blue Devils and leading them to victory in the first game.
Duke, making use of their home field advantage, brought out their mascot, who pranced around taunting the Tar Heels with “BEAT DTH” taped to his forehead. The Tar Heels retaliated with full-throated “LET’S GO TAR HEELS” chants and vicious accusations of “AIRBALL” when the Blue Devils just couldn’t find the hoop.
Early in the second game, the Chronicle’s Dom Fenoglio tumbled headfirst into a concrete wall. He was escorted out of the gym, blood smeared across his white “BEAT DTH” t-shirt. But the fallen assistant editor soon lumbered back in, holding an ice pack to his scalp. The only thing on his mind—besides maybe a concussion—was victory.
“If we win, anything’s worth it,” Fenoglio told the INDY while two blue-polo’d Duke employees, armed with the biohazard cleanup kit, put “CAUTION: WET FLOOR” signs up around his bloody splash zone.
For a few minutes, it looked like DTH tallman (and city & state editor) Ethan Horton might be able to take advantage of Fenoglio’s absence in the paint. But Duke, anchored by a pair of three-pointers from Jindal, put the second game away to bank bragging rights for the Blue Devils, 2-0.
The Chronicle staff hoisted Jindal in the air and chanted “MVP.”
But maybe, just maybe, the real winner was the journalism they supported along the way.
“Am I pissed that we let [Jindal] walk into two wide open threes? Yes, incredibly,” said UNC’s Swanson. “ [But] honestly—the sports writer in me—that’s a beautiful story. He had a great game.”
“These guys are great, what they do is amazing,” Jindal says, in regards to the DTH, after his victory. “I love their paper.”
Reach Reporter Chase Pellegrini de Paur at [email protected]. Comment on this story at [email protected].
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