A couple weeks ago The Daily Texan, 114-year-old student newspaper at the University of Texas at Austin, was on the ropes: few ads, dwindling bank account, doubt over its future and no idea what would happen next, but it wasn’t going to be anything to write home about.
In one sense, none of that has changed in the course of two weeks: still few ads, still no money, still questions about the future.
But, there are the beginnings of answers, and the start of a search for a solution.
There’s a decent chance that what does happen at UT-Austin over the next few years will help change the struggling collegiate media world, and perhaps create some ideas for the recovering newspaper industry.
Texas Student Media was poised to discuss a proposal to cut The Daily Texan to weekly, a death sentence for a paper that has not yet built a stable digital business model. Kill most of the print editions, and the paper withers away, and becomes a placeholder site on the web.
But as my column a couple weeks ago noted, the folks at UT-Austin work and live with the slogan, “What Starts Here Changes the World.”
So, change happened. Quickly.
The Texan is in the process of moving from the Office of Student Affairs, to the Moody College of Communication. But it’s still in process, and many questions still to answer.
But, with time running out and the bank account dwindling, the new management – the Moody College of Communication – stepped up, in the form of Dean Roderick Hart, and assured TSM that help was on the way, as he promised “a viable business plan in place by fall of 2017 that will put TSM on the road for success.”
Not a gift. But an offer to help bridge the gap, and jointly build a new business model. A life raft, of sorts.
Dean Hart’s blog about why the “TSM acquisition is personal” explains his thoughts very eloquently, and is inspirational for those of us who believe in the value and integrity of journalism – and that a viable business model is possible.
What is happening at UT is, as my oldest daughter, Katie DeGraff, journalist/university editorial services director, says, is “so wonderfully counter-trend.”
College newspapers are suffering as much or more as professional papers, and their resources are thin. Too frequently, it’s easy to throw in the towel, slim down the paper and chalk it up to changing times.
Moody College didn’t take that path, thank goodness.
What I’m betting will happen over the next few years is an energetic response to the crisis that student papers like The Daily Texan face, with all the resources of the journalism school, Moody College, alumni, faculty and students working together for an answer.
You could say it’s a nice ending; but it’s just the beginning.
Media Solutions Partners offers both strategy and hands-on guidance to help media companies and the media support industry transition to a creative and innovative digital future. Contact John Reetz at (404) 316-4759 or john.reetz@mediasolutionspartners.com.