The Daily Tar Heel (DTH) is the independent student newspaper of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

[3] The paper places a focus on university news and sports, but it also includes heavy coverage of Orange County and North Carolina.

The Daily Tar Heel circulates 10,000 free copies to more than 225 distribution locations throughout campus and in the surrounding community -- Chapel Hill, Carrboro, Chatham, and Durham.

"[3] The famous broadcaster Charles Kuralt, who was DTH editor in 1954, wrote in his book A Life on the Road of being called "a pawn of the Communists" on the floor of the state legislature after the newspaper published a spoof edition critical of Sen. Joseph McCarthy.

"[11] In the 1970s and 1980s, student editors used the paper's front-page quote to agitate many on campus; selections included Nietzsche's "God is dead.

The DTH collected donations to pay for its legal defense, and ultimately won an assurance of at least 16 percent of all student fees in 1977.

[3] An independent publishing board was also established, though the paper's budget remained tied to the Student Congress for yearly approval.

[3] The paper voluntarily stopped taking student fee money in 1993, making it completely financially independent from the university for the first time.

[14] The column made national headlines and ultimately led to the columnist's dismissal, but officially only for her quoting a source in a manner considered out-of-context.

In October 2010, The Daily Tar Heel joined a coalition of eight media organizations in a lawsuit against UNC for public records.

[17] The lawsuit concerns records related to UNC's investigation into alleged improper relationships with athletic agents and academic misconduct surrounding the football team.

In September 2016, The Daily Tar Heel filed the lawsuit against UNC to obtain access to public records concerning the identification of students or employees who have committed rape or sexual assault.

Though the move has strong ties to the fiscal state of The Daily Tar Heel, their newer office is closer to UNC's central campus, and is in the midst of action on Franklin Street.

[4] Betsy Donovan, general manager of The Daily Tar Heel, cited changes in the industry, specifically the decline in print advertising, for the organization's financial situation.

In March 2017, Donovan said the University of North Carolina's 2017 men's basketball national championship reduced the Tar Heel's deficit from about $100,000 to less than $50,000 for the fiscal year.

Since 2001, the newspaper has won more than a half-dozen awards from the North Carolina Press Association for its photography, news writing, and design.