Some college papers cut production

If you were to take a Wednesday day trip to the University of California at Berkeley-one of the nation's most renowned and politically active college campuses-something would be conspicuously missing.

Actually, make that 10,000 somethings.

The Daily Californian, UC-Berkeley's 137-year-old independent newspaper, announced Aug. 25 that it would no longer produce a print edition on Wednesdays in an effort to break even in the 2008-2009 academic year.

In a time of economic crisis and widespread newsroom cuts, even college publications are beginning to feel the financial heat. Bryan Thomas, editor of The Daily Californian, said the paper's reduction from five print editions per week to four was a necessity in light of a sharp decline in national revenue.

"We had to move quickly because as an independent paper, we're acting without a safety net," Thomas said. "We made all the cuts that we could before coming to this choice. At the end of the day, too much of our overhead was tied up into the production of the newspaper."

Thomas said he and the publication board for The Daily Californian hope this year can serve as a "one-year buffer zone" as they try to structure a long-term plan for the paper's organization and financial model to support daily production as soon as possible.

"The reaction was one of sadness on campus," Thomas said of his paper's August announcement. "I don't think a huge number of students were surprised because they knew about trends in national and local papers. But the first question people ask is, 'When's it coming back?'"

The changing reality of college journalism

In an effort to keep up with commercial publications, college newspapers across the country-and not just those cutting print production-are experimenting with blogs, podcasts, videos and other exclusive online content.

Malcom Glenn, editor of The Crimson at Harvard, echoed the importance of pursuing new media goals. He also acknowledged one of the unique challenges of a campus newspaper's online product, particularly at places like Harvard or Duke: Print readers are often local with an immediate connection to campus stories while online readers tend to be geographically dispersed alumni who might be looking for more of a summary of what's happening at their alma mater. The vision for online, he said, should reflect those differences.

"The Web site is often a regurgitation of the print edition, and in a lot of ways that doesn't make sense, because the people who read the print edition aren't going to read the same thing online," Glenn said. "They are two different entities and we should treat them like that."

Nationwide, student readership of campus newspapers online has been gaining traction but still has a lot of room to grow. According to Student Monitor's Spring 2008 Lifestyle and Media Report, 32 percent of college students are aware that their campus newspaper is available online, up six points from 2007. And of those students who actually know that their campus publication can be read on the Web, 42 percent have read at least one article in the past month-up from the 29 percent who had read online content in 2007.

These figures stand in sharp contrast to the reported traditional print readership, with 63 percent of all students reading at least one of the last five issues of their campus newspaper and 31 percent having read at least three of the last five.

The high percentage of students who still read their campus daily in print, though, speaks to why cuts at college newspapers have come more slowly than at their professional counterparts. The market for advertising sales on college campuses is still lucrative because universities are niche markets, said Chrissy Beck, advertising director of The Chronicle. She added that although campus papers can still meet and exceed their local advertising goals, it's not as easy as it once was.

"College newspapers for the longest time could just sit there and be order-takers," Beck said. "But with this economy, we need to do more."

The campus niche and thirst for news

Not every college newspaper is failing. In fact, some are thriving.

The Crimson, for example, is experiencing record growth. Glenn said the Harvard paper makes upwards of $1 million in revenue each year, with 80 to 85 percent of that total derived from advertising sales. The senior added that in each year since he arrived at Harvard, The Crimson has made a greater profit than the year before.

The other 15 to 20 percent of The Crimson's revenue comes from donations used to form a scholarship fund that independently supports nearly 50 writers per semester. Fundraising outside of advertising revenue is becoming an increasingly popular option, as The Daily Orange established an independent endowment two years ago and The Daily Californian looks to do similarly in the coming year.

In terms of circulation, The Crimson has what Glenn calls a monopoly on campus readers. But that's not unique to Harvard.

At Duke, for example, 94 percent of undergraduates and 70 percent of the greater Duke community read The Chronicle regularly, according to a 2006 Newton Marketing and Research Report. Less than 20 percent of Duke community members subscribe to a local daily publication. Nationwide, the Lifestyle and Media Report found that 53 percent of college students do not read commercial print newspapers and an even higher 62 percent do not read commercial papers online.

The reality is that campus publications are the primary news source for many students. And that reality is what makes the future of college publications more secure and promising than what has been projected for the business at large.

"What I always say is that [journalism] is changing for everyone-it's changing at the college level and the industry level," Glenn said. "There's lots of doom and gloom, but I am more optimistic about the future of college newspapers than I am for the professional ones. As long as students keep enrolling in college, the thirst and desire for news on campus will always be there."