Most any human endeavor celebrating its 50th anniversary deserves its moment of celebration and contemplation because that time span necessarily invokes often startling comparisons between then and now. A little more than 50 years ago, as MJR founder Nathaniel Blumberg notes in his article, “a Sputnik no larger than the span of a man’s arms” jolted a lot of people out of their mid-century reverie, and rudely challenged our earthbound paradigm with the promise of another dimension – space. Since then, change has done nothing but accelerate, particularly since the development of another kind of space – cyberspace (which strangely enough exists more in undersea and underground cables than in the ether above us). Of course the news business is in the midst of trying to figure out what its place is in this new and ever-changing universe. Gone forever are the machinery of the press from a half-century ago – the linotype and the Speed-Graphic camera (except in the Newseum). Gone forever are the clacking of the typewriter, the insistent bells of the wire machine, the ink smells of the composing room, the massive cameras used for television, the click-click-click of the dial telephone. They’ve been replaced, at least for the moment, by 24-inch Mac screens, incredibly complex software programs, digital cameras, HD video, PDAs and the ubiquitous cell phone. Radically different equipment has led to yet another paradigm shift, making it possible for practically anyone to record, shape and publish their “news” to anyone else in the world. And uncounted millions are doing just that, on blogs, on social networking sites, on YouTube, and a myriad of other outlets. The newsroom has lost its walls – but has it lost its purpose? Some latter-day imaginists proclaim that this is so. But tell that to journalism students and recent graduates, who may privately admit to some fears about the future but who are also determined to find their way or to create a path where none had existed before. Katherine Sather, for example, who graduated from UM with a degree in print journalism in 2005, is now working at a major television station in Seattle as a Web producer, helping beef up the station’s Web presence with multimedia news and features. This special issue of MJR looks back to the days when Blumberg ruled the J-school roost. We profile several of his students and look at some hot issues of the day. We also profile the Roundup Record-Tribune, continuously published under a single family’s ownership for 100 years. And we have an exclusive interview with author and journalist Gay Talese, a man who proudly eschews e-mail and the World Wide Web. We also examine today’s and tomorrow’s challenges for journalists – using Facebook to attract Web site readers and viewers, Podcasting as a challenge to radio, how photographers are adapting to the multimedia world, publishing online instead of on paper and how to teach yourself software and Web tools – because that’s how you do it these days. Our online magazine has lots of Web-only features. Emeritus professor Bob McGiffert explains old printing terms. Former NBC newsman Don Oliver discusses the heyday of network news. Talese talks about the importance of being there. Every teacher knows that there is a mysterious, magic dynamic that some classes have, and some don’t. This year’s MJR class had it. We brainstormed, we solved problems, we worked into the night – and we had a heckuva lot of fun. My hat’s off to this awesome crew.