Student publication releases final hard copy, transitions to online only

The Sentinel has printed its final pages.

The last physical edition of North Idaho College's award-winning student news publication was released May 1.

"We always are trying to put in a good effort," Sentinel junior editor Anastasia Dickey said Monday. "We were able to put more into it and have that pride in it to be our last best issue.

"It was kind of sad in a way that we won't be doing it anymore, but it's also somewhat of a relief."

Dickey, a journalism major who has been on Sentinel staff four semesters, discussed reasons for parting with print in her article, "A bittersweet farewell: The final print edition of the Sentinel," which appears in the fall 2026 issue.

"What you hold in your hands is now a relic, a thing of the past, the last edition of the Sentinel that will ever be printed," Dickey wrote in her article. "After more than 90 years, North Idaho College's student publication will no longer be continuing the tradition of printed news."

Surprise budget cuts at the state level were announced at the beginning of the fall 2025 semester, according to the article. A decrease in education funding made it necessary for higher education institutions to adjust their budgets. The result was a 3% reduction to previously allotted financial aid for NIC, Dickey reported, with more cuts coming in the 2026-2027 school year.

"We're all trying to work with that," Communication and Fine Art Division Chair Joe Jacoby said in the Sentinel article. "We aren't extravagant spenders. When we're told, 'You're going to have to cut the fat out of your budget,' we don't really have that."

For a savings of $4,000 an issue, the print magazine was one of those cuts.

The Sentinel evolved into a magazine published once a semester at the behest of students in 2017. It began as the Jaycee Journal in 1934 when NIC was the Coeur d'Alene Junior College. It underwent several changes to its name and format through the years, finally arriving at its current moniker under the guidance of journalist and Coast Guard veteran Nils Rosdahl, who served as NIC's journalism instructor and Sentinel adviser from 1984 until retirement in 2010.

Then a broadsheet newspaper, the Sentinel won hundreds of awards during Rosdahl's tenure. He expressed disappointment the Sentinel would no longer be shared in print form.

"I guess it makes sense if they're low on funding for it and they’re low on humans to work on it,” he said.

A digital product will serve modern journalism students well, he said.

"If I had to do the digital stuff, I’d have a hard time because of my ignorance," Rosdahl said.

He also shared disappointment about the size of the once-robust program. A staff that was populated by sometimes dozens of students has dwindled through the years to about six.

"I think that’s because of a lack of recruiting," Rosdahl said. "I used to go to the high schools and talk to their journalism classes. I think that made a difference, plus at registration time (at NIC) I would sit and provide information for anyone who was at all interested."

Sentinel adviser Geoff Carr, in his 15th year leading the journalism program, said he has always encouraged online platforms.

"That's the future of the industry," Carr said.

When students first proposed to have the magazine, Carr said he was on board with the hopes the website would have a wealth of content from which to draw.

"It didn't always happen that way," he said.

Without students having to worry about always producing that print product, "they can focus on the skills that are important to the industry right now," he said.

Sentinel editors expect nicsentinel.com will reflect the transition as a higher volume of news and information is shared via social media and podcasts.

"We definitely want to set it up a notch and be putting out a lot more content," Dickey said.

Dickey will take charge of the Sentinel when school resumes this fall as managing editor Megan Morrison is graduating Friday. Morrison, also a journalism major, has also been on staff four semesters.

She said she hopes switching entirely to the website encourages more community involvement.

"It is really cool when you think about it, that you have been able to participate in that history in some way," Morrison said. "But I think it is also super exciting there's this new avenue of journalism that's coming out that people at the Sentinel get to participate in more. But it is sad to have the end of an era."

    Past print editions of North Idaho College's award-winning publication, the Sentinel, are displayed in the newsroom Monday afternoon in Boswell Hall. The student publication has transitioned to an online-only format after more than 90 years in print.
  

    Managing editor Megan Morrison, left, and junior editor Anastasia Dickey show their workspace in the Sentinel newsroom Monday afternoon. The Sentinel, North Idaho College's student-run publication, has printed its last physical issue.
  

    Sentinel awards from various competitions through the years are on display in Boswell Hall on the North Idaho College campus.