As the news media industry continues to contract, shed workers, and deal with constant political attacks, the urgency and action over the future of news is trickling down to college journalists. Student editors and reporters at Los Angeles area campuses and nationwide on Wednesday took to their op-ed pages to express concern over the future of editorial independence on campus.
This April 25 became a national day of action for "saving student journalism," with college papers joining forces to bring awareness to budget cutbacks and threats to editorial independence that many student newsrooms are facing. The #SaveStudentNewsrooms campaign started with editors of the University of Florida student paper, the Independent Florida Alligator. The movement comes after years of cutbacks — seen as pay cuts to working student journalists, and cutbacks on pages or even days of publication.
"An independent newsroom is intended to have little to no financial ties to the college, meaning that the paper can contain stories that present the school in good or bad light without any serious repercussions," said The Sundial at Cal State Northridge, in an opinion article today. "However, due to this no strings attached relationship, some student newspapers are often left struggling to find sponsorship."
The paper went on: "Students have the right to discuss the issues that lie on their campus and we have the right to discuss it with the public – you! Without this right, without this independent funding, our ability to present to you a look into the workings of your school is severely compromised."
At the University of Southern California, the independent Daily Trojan expressed dismay with a string of cases of university administrations trying to censor or punish student reporters at other colleges.