For one hundred years, the Daily Egyptian has served as the student-run newspaper for Southern Illinois University Carbondale and the Carbondale community. Featuring front pages and stories from the paper's past publications as well as reflections from former reporters on their time at the paper and the issues they covered, The Daily Egyptian: The First Century showcases the DE's dedication to providing in-depth coverage of regional, state, and national stories with a focus on how they impact the local population. Throughout its history, the Daily Egyptian has been present at prominent historical events, whether providing reports and photographs on the antiwar riots in the 1970s during which SIUC was closed and National Guard troops were deployed with bayonets and rifles, sending photographers to Chicago's Grant Park the night Barack Obama was elected president, or covering the impact of the September 11 terrorist attacks on people from southern Illinois. Also profiled are stands the paper has taken on national issues, such as a campaign in 1950 against Jim Crow exclusion of black SIUC athletes from playing in road games, and editorials against police brutality.
The book also explores the work the paper has done within the southern Illinois region, including its role in selecting the Saluki as SIUC's mascot, stories on the 2008 Harrisburg tornado, the time an SIUC student hit Governor George Ryan in the face with a pie, and the Saluki men's basketball team's Sweet 16 run in 2007. The chronological spreads and reminiscences from student journalists allow readers to see how the look and style of the Daily Egyptian has changed throughout the years while still pursuing its same dogged goals. What emerges is not only a remarkable, behind-the-scenes portrait of the hard work required by an all-student staff to produce an award-winning paper for such a long period, but also a time machine that allows readers to relive the force of past events as they first appeared in print.