FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact:
Gail Waterhouse, Board of directors
781-801-4439 | [email protected]
Sam Haas, Editor in Chief
617-721-6943 | [email protected]
Facing mounting debt, Huntington News launches $40K campaign
For 82 years, The Northeastern News was a major source of news at Northeastern University. Now known as The Huntington News, the paper went independent from the university in the summer of 2008, when it moved off campus and established itself as a 501(c)3 nonprofit under the name World Series Way Publishing Co. Undergraduate students work to maintain the high standard of quality the community has come to expect from its student newspaper.
However, faced with the same challenges that affect hundreds of other college newspapers today, the News finds itself in need. Over the past several years, the paper has accumulated nearly $30,000 in debt to its publisher, Turley Publications. The News worked out an arrangement to continue publishing this semester, but Turley has warned it will have to cease publishing if the situation does not improve going forward.
To help pay down the debt, the News this week launched a $40,000 fundraising campaign, aimed at reducing the paper’s debt and regaining its financial footing.
The road toward the fundraiser began in January 2016, when, in an effort to figure out ways to pay down the debt, the News assembled a new, hands on board of directors of four News alumni who all work in the journalism field. Since then, the board and the students who currently run the News have taken several concrete steps to reduce the News’ expenses and cut down the deficit, including:
- • Conducting a full, organized audit of financial assets and revenue streams for the first time in over three years.
- • Cutting down on printing costs by changing the print cycle to every other Thursday, while still continuing to publish a full issue online every week and covering breaking news.
- • Moving from its previous office space on Huntington Avenue, saving $1,400 a month.
- • Working with advertising partner MediaMate to create a profitable advertising schedule.
- • Creating a payment plan with publisher Turley Publications that will allow the News to remain in print for the time being while paying down the debt.
- • Redesigning the website to make it mobile-friendly and create more space for digital advertising opportunities.
- • Organizing small-scale fundraising drives and events.
Through the fundraising campaign, the News is looking to raise $40,000 by the end of the school year – $30,000 to pay off the paper’s debt and the additional $10,000 as part of a capital campaign that will give the staff the resources to become financially sustainable and produce a paper the whole community can all be proud of.
The News is published on Thursdays during the fall and spring semesters with more than 50 students contributing to its production. The most frequently-published and well-read publication on campus, it features campus and city news, sports, entertainment and opinion sections. In the past year alone, the News has broken a story on the Northeastern University Police Department’s acquisition of assault rifles, published a three–part series on campus health care and – in 48 hours this week – done breaking, multimedia coverage of an on-campus activist occupation and an in-depth analysis of a campus crime report.
We ask all members of the Northeastern community, including students, their family members, alumni, friends of the university, residents of the Greater Boston Area, readers of the News and all supporters of student journalism, to consider donating to The Huntington News. Tax-deductible donations can be made at https://huntnewsnu.com/donate/.
With your help, the Huntington News can continue to provide an educational and journalistic ecosystem of opportunities for students, readers and journalists everywhere. Thank you.
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