Tough times for
college papers
Student media faces pressure over budgets and content, says Susannah Keogh
F
or many young people, student newspapers are their introduction to the world of journalism. When I arrived at the University of Exeter three years ago, joining its independent student newspaper not only gave me a community
full of like-minded people and kickstarted my coffee addiction but also provided me with valuable skills and experience. Student newspapers have evolved into a training ground,
offering a chance to chase stories and create a newspaper alongside studies. To edit a paper when you’re at university is a life-changing experience that sparks a love of journalism. But this once-in-a-lifetime experience is becoming far from
guaranteed. Student newspapers across the country are facing increasing pressure to cut their budgets and, in some cases, pressure from the university or union over their content. Members of the editorial body of student newspapers are
unpaid, except a few where the position of editor is held by a paid sabbatical officer. Essentially, editors are volunteers, juggling making a fortnightly or monthly print issue and managing online output alongside their degree studies. It’s a challenging yet fun experience, full of the highs and lows you’d experience in a “real” newspaper. As editor, I carried out investigations on everything from anti-Semitism at the university, to the experiences of sexual harassment and assault victims and the scandal of the student union shop forgetting to remove the tampon tax – I admit “scandal” might just be over-egging that one a bit. In my last year, my tenure was marred by meetings over the budget and how we could cut costs. We were lucky, though, in that we were independent from our university and that, when it really mattered, our students’ union would always fight our corner. Others are not so lucky. Abbie Llewelyn was managing director of York Vision in 2016, one of the University of York’s two student newspapers,
10 | theJournalist
where she was responsible for the paper’s finance. Despite winning more awards than any other student newspaper in the country, York Vision was still hit by budget problems. “When I was elected I inherited about £3,500 of debt,”
Llewelyn says. “Our students’ union doesn’t give nearly enough money for the paper to survive. We kept being told we weren’t allowed to print because the paper would get into more debt.” Like many student papers, York Vision had to find advertising
revenue. It also turned to a crowdfunding website, YuStart. It raised almost £2,000 and was able to continue publishing, with the remainder of the debt erased through a combination of advertising and an annual block grant from the university. “This has been a problem since Vision’s inception. There’s
never enough money and it’s so incredibly stressful trying to put together a newspaper and also have to worry about whether we even have the money to print,” says Llewelyn. “It’s like we’re always doomed to be on the brink of closure.” York Vision is far from the only student publication to turn
to crowdfunding. When students at Falmouth University set up a paper last year, the Anchor, they also had to crowdfund. However, they did not raise enough, so were forced to axe their monthly print edition. University student newspapers are fortunate in having a
captive audience and, if they are distributed on campus, that’s a huge footfall. In large university towns, companies such as Dominos and local nightclubs are keen to place advertisements. Reliant on advertising and money from their union or university, student newspapers can struggle. If their pick-up
Joshua Hackett was the
student media coordinator at Westminster University
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28
