About CM Life
Central Michigan Life is Central Michigan University’s award-winning, student-run media company, operating since December 1919. For the first 90 years of its existence, it functioned solely as a newspaper. Since then, CM Life has evolved into an expansive media company with exceptional print and digital product lines.
It now produces a monthly newspaper, four special publications and offers services in content creation and social media management. CM Life is nationally recognized for its excellence in business and advertising, as well as journalism. It has been named the College Media Company of the Year in 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 by College Media Business & Advertising Managers (CMBAM) for its excellence in business and advertising. Additionally, it has received the Associated Collegiate Press Business Pacemaker Award -- a prestigious honor for student media -- back to back in 2024 and 2025.
The Central Michigan Life newsroom is a 17 time national Pacemaker winner for newspaper/magazine publications and is also a Pacemaker 100, placing CMU Student Media in the top 10% of the country. Central Michigan Life is also recognized in the state of Michigan, earning the Michigan Press Association College Newspaper of the Year 13 times since 2001. CM Life has also been named Best Online Newspaper by the MPA 9 times since 2003.
Within CM Life are two departments contributing to the success of everyday operations. These departments include: Editorial and Advertising (Gold Media Group). They work closely together to provide the Mount Pleasant community with high-quality news coverage and media services.
Editorial is responsible for writing the paper’s content and covers subjects pertaining to the university, student life, metro, sports, and opinion and lifestyle pieces.
Advertising is a team is made up of account managers who meet with clients to review and promote CM Life services spanning from print, out-of-home, digital and social media advertising.
Gold Media Group is the creative agency within CM Life advertising. Designers, copywriters, photographers, videographers and digital analysts work to provide local business clients with creative content and branding ideas to satisfy their individual business needs.
The paper is published and monthly on the 1st Thursday of each month during the spring and fall semesters and has a circulation of 5,000. CM Life is distributed at various newsstands in CMU’s academic buildings and residence halls, as well as dozens of businesses within the Mount Pleasant community.
CM Life helps prepare students for successful media careers and prides itself on a wide alumni network. CM Life’s employees go on to work with some of the top media organizations, corporations and agencies in the nation.
Central Michigan Life relies on advertising dollars and reader donations to maintain its independent status at Central Michigan University. If you would like to support our educational mission and continue the delivery of trusted news to our community, please click the link below to contribute. Every amount helps us continue to operate.
CM Life alumni can stay connected through:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/central-michigan-life
Alumni Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cmlifers/
To stay updated with campus and community events, follow CM Life on social media.
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cmlife
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/cmlifephoto/
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/CentralMichLife/
Snapchat: cmlife
Threads: https://www.threads.com/@centralmichiganlife
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@centralmichiganlife
Twitter: https://twitter.com/CMLIFE
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/cmlifevideo
Mission Statement
We will above all else strive to present balanced, accurate coverage of events affecting the CMU community.
We will seek to better the skills of every student who walks through our doors with an open mind and a willingness to learn.
We will attempt to maintain a positive office environment because we believe this leads to a better product and, more importantly, better people.
We will remain at the forefront of the technological advances in our field in order to present our readers with a collegiate paper of the highest quality.
We will, in all our dealings with the public, remember that we represent CM Life, those who have come before us and those yet to come.
