The print products of student news organizations have been standing on a precipice for a while now. The pandemic — which has disrupted university life and kept student journalists away from their campuses — has given many of them a fatal shove.
The long-term outlook for student newspapers wasn’t exactly rosy before the pandemic hit. The University of Maryland’s independent student newspaper, The Diamondback, announced in September 2019 that they’ll stop publishing a newspaper in March 2020 — right as Covid-19 would wind up entering the scene — and many more had already ceased printing or reduced publication schedules. Still, deserted campuses and slashed student life budgets have taken a particularly high toll on student newspapers and magazines over the last year.
The Associated Collegiate Press said they have not been collecting information on the exact number of student newspapers that have gone digital-only since the pandemic started. Ron Johnson, the association’s communications director, confirmed he was seeing “significant shifts to digital” but noted that a number of student news organizations were keeping “some print presence, even if it’s a weekly, twice monthly or monthly publication for visibility.”
I’ve collected a handful of announcements below, but it’s not just American student journalists dealing with the fallout from the pandemic. Research from the U.K.-based Student Publication Association found that fully half of its student newspapers fear they’ll never be able to print again.
My alma mater’s student newspaper is the latest to announce it’s ceasing its print publication.
My graduation cap was decorated with a collage of my favorite articles I’d written. Crazy to think that’s now the “old days.” https://t.co/ZSN2AsDIkW
— Hadley Barndollar (@hbarndollar) August 23, 2021
A lot of the announcements include a variation on “after 100 years of publication …”
Stopping the Presses 🗞
After covering University milestones since 1919, @bcheights has now reported one of its own: the newspaper will cease its print operations next month and shift to an entirely digital format in the fall. https://t.co/DImrRZOiRu pic.twitter.com/863mSCgK4G
— Boston College (@BostonCollege) April 19, 2021
Auburn University’s student newspaper is moving away from print after 127 years in circulation. https://t.co/ETqD8SPYQ6
— Opelika-Auburn News (@oanow) February 25, 2021
Sad that the University of Maryland’s newspaper, The Diamondback, will no longer print a paper after 110 years in circulation.
— Dean Schleicher (@DeanSchleicher) February 24, 2020
The “alma mater” of my colleague Hanaa’ Tameez is also ceasing publication. She sounded an optimistic note for student journalists — and alumni — going through something similar.
My true alma mater @sbstatesman will stop printing its weekly newspaper.
I may be the only one, but I’m thrilled about the financial freedom this will give the editors to innovate and bring the journalism to readers in mediums they actually consume. https://t.co/6CQKmx09nf
— Hanaa’ Tameez (@HanaaTameez) August 22, 2021
