Editor’s note: This letter makes comparisons to an April student media report that the Media School has not yet released to the public. In the interest of transparency, readers can read the original recommendations by students, faculty, staff and alumni at the end of this article.
The U.S. lost 2.5 newspapers a week in 2023.
The epidemic of vanishing newsrooms was documented in a report from Northwestern University. By year's end, our country will have two-thirds the newspapers it had in 2005.
We’ve watched for 20 years what happens when news organizations don’t evolve. And we will not let that happen to IU student media. A year ago, the IDS's deficit was approaching $900,000. IUSTV and WIUX had limited revenue generation capabilities. And there were well-documented pleas from our students for a “comprehensive solution.”
So we listened.
A committee of faculty, staff, alumni and students (including leaders of the IDS) researched and presented recommendations for a sustainable future for student media. Media School staff reviewed them, incorporated as many as possible and operationalized them. On Oct. 8, we presented our plan to reimagine student media.
We had planned to share the plan with student media leaders and faculty first, but when we learned the IDS had obtained a copy and was going to publish a story, we felt it necessary to announce the plan early so our community could hear it directly from us.
It was hard. It will continue to be hard. If it was easy, it would have already been done.
This plan is thoughtful and creative. It required difficult decisions. Here’s one: the IDS’s top three expenditures are professional staff salaries, student pay and newsprint. When it came time to choose, we prioritized the people of the IDS. Because it is the people, more than the print, that makes this venerable publication.
We acknowledge the loss the IDS community feels for its weekly print edition. "Journalist” is not just a job; it’s an identity.
We hear you: Why can’t IU just give student media more money? Actually, that would be a lot easier than what we’re doing. But subsidizing a business model on campus that does not reflect the ecosystem off campus won’t adequately prepare students for the career landscape they’re entering.
Remember those vanishing newsrooms? Someone has to do something about those. And our goal is to turn out creative and bold graduates equipped to solve that problem — and many more.
You can do this. WE can do this. The Media School will always support student media.
David Tolchinsky is dean of the Media School at Indiana University.
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