{"id":246213,"date":"2026-04-01T04:46:06","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T04:46:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/246213\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T04:46:06","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T04:46:06","slug":"after-four-years-and-12000-subscribers-student-run-morning-trojan-will-shut-down-in-may-annenberg-media","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/246213\/","title":{"rendered":"After four years and 12,000 subscribers, student-run Morning, Trojan will shut down in May \u2013 Annenberg Media"},"content":{"rendered":"

Morning, Trojan, a widely read student-run newsletter known for breaking news such as professor relations with Epstein<\/a> at the University of Southern California, will shut down in May. <\/p>\n

Tomo Chien, a senior journalism major who launched the newsletter four years ago, said the decision stems from the difficulty of continuing the publication after graduation. Built as a one-man operation, Morning,Trojan predominantly relied on his reporting, sourcing and editorial judgment.<\/p>\n

Since its founding, the newsletter has grown from a small email list into a major campus news source. With nearly 12,000 subscribers, the newsletter reaches the inbox of students, faculty, alumni and university administrators. <\/p>\n

The publication became known for its steady stream of scoops and daily roundup of campus and surrounding L.A. news, earning a reputation as a must-read among those closely following university developments.<\/p>\n

In an interview with Annenberg Media, Chein said that he hopes the newsletter\u2019s legacy encourages continued competition in campus journalism.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there\u2019s one thing I hope people take away, it\u2019s that the news media landscape should stay competitive,\u201d Chien said. \u201cI hope people keep reporting stories that matter and just don\u2019t take yourself too seriously.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chien credited longtime proofreader Anna Hsu, a senior computer engineering and computer science student, for helping sustain the newsletter, highlighting her behind-the-scenes contributions to its production.<\/p>\n

The final edition of Morning, Trojan will run May 1. Afterward, Chien plans to publish an archive website preserving past reporting and reader testimonials.<\/p>\n

Following graduation, Chien said he will continue covering USC through L.A. Material, a Los Angeles-based startup news outlet focused on investigative reporting. He said he will be working alongside journalists who have reported on major scandals tied to the university.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m just probably going to stop doing things that are only cute when you\u2019re an undergraduate, like making fun of the student government,\u201d Chien said.<\/p>\n

As his newsletter evolved, Chien used AI-aided data analysis to produce unserious content popular with USC students.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s really done a lot. He\u2019s an example, just a very entrepreneurial and creative student who\u2019s also an excellent journalist,\u201d said Rebecca Haggerty, a professor of professional practice and the program lead for the undergraduate journalism program.<\/p>\n

His passion projects have included a lay-off and budget cut tracker<\/a>, data-based frat and sorority rankings<\/a> and an analysis of the most popular Rate My Professor reviews<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the years he really developed excellent sources at USC and was able to do a lot of original reporting, which the newsletter is now a mix of,\u201d Haggerty said.<\/p>\n

Unlike many student media organizations at USC, the newsletter operates independently and does not receive funding from the university, a point Chien emphasized in his announcement.<\/p>\n

Similar to Chien\u2019s encouragement of competitive journalism, Haggerty also sees the legacy of Morning, Trojan as an inspiration for journalism students to explore ways to connect with their community.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf not a newsletter, maybe something else, right,\u201d she said. \u201cMaybe a TikTok account, maybe something just inspiring people to think about how they can be great journalists and also be on platforms, meeting people where they are.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Morning, Trojan, a widely read student-run newsletter known for breaking news such as professor relations with Epstein at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":246214,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[48,52,51,47,50,49,110068,110069,110070,110071],"class_list":["post-246213","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles","tag-la","tag-la-headlines","tag-la-news","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-headlines","tag-los-angeles-news","tag-morning-trojan","tag-student-newsletter","tag-tomo-chien","tag-usc-newsletter"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246213","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246213"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246213\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246213"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246213"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246213"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}