How The Minnesota Daily Used a Tight Focus to Document a Day on a Nearly Empty Campus During the Pandemic

6:15 a.m. Shai Schwartz, left, a Dialysis Technician, and Calie Shemwell, right, a Dialysis Nurse, pose for a portrait before heading into work. "I know some are a bit worried about low supplies with masks and other items," said Schwartz, "But we still make due with what we have and do our best to deliver our best patient care." (Jack Rodgers / Minnesota Daily)

Posted Wednesday, May 20, 2020 10:17 am

Taylor Blatchford | Poynter

Every year, The Minnesota Daily’s multimedia staff fans out around campus on a chosen day with one goal: to document 24 hours of campus life, from midnight to midnight.

This year was different. The University of Minnesota moved classes online in mid-March, many students moved off campus and the Daily stopped publishing a print paper.

The staff continued the Day in the Life project, though, with safety precautions in place and a new focus on portraits and profiles. “As documentarians with a mission to help create the first draft of history, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 presented both a unique challenge and obligation to approach our duty like never before,” the staff wrote in the project’s introduction.

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How The Minnesota Daily Used a Tight Focus to Document a Day on a Nearly Empty Campus During the Pandemic

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