College Newspapers

The Tennant article made me think about campus newspapers like “The Daily Texan” and I have to admit I don’t know exactly how its funding is split up. I assume some of it comes from advertising (based on Dr. Chyi’s anecdote from last week TDT ads are not cheap) and some probably comes from university subsidies / student fees. It does not hurt that it is run by unpaid volunteers. Could newspapers like this be the best poised to weather the storm toppling over bigger news publications?

Well, as it turns out (and it may be no surprise all of you journalism Ph.D.s) the answer is not necessarily. The NCSU student newspaper the Technician is reducing its circulation because of dropping ad sales, some of which are migrating online, to social media. Moreover, and more interestingly, in anticipation of the problems facing the journalism industry as well as the additional responsibilities of journalists (such as consistent social media presence), students appear to be less invested in putting in the hours at campus publications.

A recent Universityof Georgia study found that journalism majors may be declining and some schools are trying to re-brand their journalism departments, like University of North Carolina. This reminds me of the fact that recently my own “Radio-Television-Film” department polled us graduate students about a new department name, perhaps in recognition of the fact that not a single one of us is studying radio. As the Chyi, Lewis & Zheng (2012) paper points out, not just the newspaper industry is facing economic woes. Similarly alarming stories have resurfaced about the future of the film industry. Digital certainly poses problems for content industries, but also reduces the barriers to entry (and in so doing, increases competition). Either way, it will be interesting to see whether the Daily Texan continues its print edition, although it seems like a relatively stable institution.