UT's Daily Texan survives heated budget debate
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The University of Texas’ daily newspaper
The Daily Texan has been a fixture of the U.T. campus longer than Bevo, but like many newspapers across the nation, the student paper is fighting to keep its daily print operation going.
With a projected shortfall of more than $100,000 in the next budget year, student media trustees considered cutting the paper’s printing schedule to just four days a week.
“We’re not going to be a Daily Texan. We’re going to be a weekly Texan, or a monthly Texan, then a yearly Texan and then a no Texan,” U.T. graduate Karl-Thomas Musselman said. “It’s that first step.”
The student daily is a major source of revenue and some say cutting it doesn’t make sense.
“The majority of the Texans resources—financial resources—come from print advertising revenue,” editor Susannah Jacob said. “We have a lot of qualities that make it very attractive.”
The highest priority for the paper is real-world experience for students.
“We want to keep the educational opportunities available for our students,” Paepin Goff, president of the Student Media Operating Board, said. “We want to make sure that that isn’t diminished by the decisions that we make.”
While the fate of newspaper is still unclear, trustees decided to continue publishing the Texan five days a week, even if it means losing money.
"We only are beginning to save the Texan. There’s a lot of really hard work and collaboration that has to happen,” Jacob said.
The budget approved for 2013-14 will result in a shortfall of $125,000 to $150,000. Texas Student Media has a reserve fund with a balance of about $800,000 dollars to help cover those expenses.