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Penn State Media’s Black Sheep

If you’ve been in the HUB on a Monday from 12-2 p.m. in the last month or so, you’ve probably heard someone yell at you something like “Help find Kony,” “Not endorsed by the NRA,” or “Take this if you’re against the war in Vietnam,” while simultaneously getting a newspaper shoved in your face.

These people aren’t technically crazy, they’re just members of The Black Sheep, a new media publication on Penn State’s campus.

Yes, that Twitter account (@BlackSheep_PSU) that you’ve definitely seen tweet out Benghazi jokes or talk about how awful Pitt is is an actual thing and not just a way that Campus Manager David Callanan, affectionately known as “Porter” by everyone who knows him, gets away with saying silly things that he can’t say on his personal Twitter.

The Black Sheep is a weekly college comedy publication,” Callanan said, “It’s basically half satire, half advice kind of pieces. We also have some other stuff thrown in by our national office. They throw in word searches, interviews with B-List celebrities, stuff like that.”

The national office is based out of Chicago, with branches of The Black Sheep at college campuses like Michigan, West Virginia and Florida, among others.

According to Callanan, The Black Sheep is not like the other comedy publication on Penn State’s campus, Phroth.

“We have had a lot of satire recently,” Callanan said, “but they’re strictly satire, I think they’re really good at what they do, but we are different in a sense that we want to make it more like what’s really gonna appeal to college kids.

“I’d describe us more like Phroth meets The School Philly,” Callanan continued, “Only more cynical and dickish.”

Despite being online since September of 2012, the newspaper has only started circulating around campus since mid-March. While on-campus circulation has stopped due to Penn State’s rule against handing out things on campus that are not approved by the school directly.

“I can’t hand out issues on campus or I will literally get arrested,” Callanan said and tweeted out from the official account. Copies can still be found around State College in places like McClanahan’s, Canyon Pizza, College Pizza and Cafe 210 West, among plenty of other places.

“We put them in cafes, tanning salons, gyms,” Callanan said, “Places we think people are gonna find them. We try to just basically put them everywhere so everyone can see them.”

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