Eight-month financial and best practices research finds precipitous drop in advertising; many now need university and alumni support.
HOPKINTON, MASS. – College newspapers – the incubators for future professional journalists in print and other media – are facing precipitous declines in advertising revenue and readership. This threatens their survival and makes them more dependent on their universities for funding, which could compromise their editorial independence.
These were among the conclusions of a pro bono study led by Buday Thought Leadership Partners and WJG Associates on behalf of the alumni interest group of their college newspaper, Penn State’s Daily Collegian.
The study focused on 33 college news organizations {“CNOs”) — papers organized as independent, non-profit entities and covering campuses similar to Penn State. It found a 73% average decline in annual advertising revenue since the Great Recession, a time in which ads were 90% of total revenue compared with 53% in fiscal year 2022-23.
While some college papers have raised funds through alumni contributions, gifts, investment income, innovative online services and other new sources of revenue, they haven’t offset the precipitous fall in advertising sales. For the average college paper studied by the team, total revenue declined 58% between FY2006-07 (about $1.2 million) and FY22-23 (about $498,000).
The student demonstrations of the 1960s and ‘70s led many college newspapers to wean themselves off university funding and become independent, self-supporting non-profit companies. But the economic challenges since the Great Recession in 2008 have made it difficult to stay afloat from advertising alone.
“For decades, college media has been an essential training ground for professional media organizations,” says study co-leader Bob Buday. “However, with less than half the financial resources that the average college news organization had 17 years ago, this training ground is threatened. To keep operating, many have had to turn to the universities they cover, either in the form of direct support or student activity fees. But that financial support can, of course, have strings attached to it.”
Study co-leader Bill Guthlein, head of WJG Associates, noted, “The old print newspaper business model was smooth sailing. Advertising paid most of the bills. Digital news has totally disrupted the model. The audience now has vastly more choices for news and other content at their fingertips, so finding and keeping them is a challenge. So is growing alternative revenue sources, particularly fundraising. More than ever, an engaged Board and multi-skilled General Manager are needed to navigate the CNO through a difficult transition.”
Buday and Guthlein led a 12-member research team, all but one of whom wrote for the Daily Collegian. Starting last September, the team manually gathered more than 6,000 pieces of data on 33 college news organizations from FY2000-01 to FY22-23, by perusing their annual 990 tax filings with the Internal Revenue Service as non-profit companies.
The research team also spoke with members of 21 college news organizations, often interviewing multiple people at each: the general manager, board chair, student editor in chief, and student business manager. The research began in September 2023 and was concluded in May 2024.
Among the findings from these interviews is that CNOs have shored up advertising shortfalls through other means, not all of which can be replicated widely. Some have bought and leased out buildings (Michigan State’s State News); others have benefited from a windfall from a wealthy benefactor (e.g., The Daily Northwestern); and one (the Vanderbilt Hustler) sold an FCC radio license at the right time.
:On the other hand, CNOs have pioneered innovative and lucrative products outside their core product of providing news. These include apartment-hunting services (Duke Chronicle), student-run advertising agencies (Duke and UNC Chapel Hill’s Daily Tar Heel), content management website licensing (State News), and special print editions for occasions when parents are in town and advertisers want to reach them.
Buday and Guthlein believe that far more innovation will be needed to help CNOs transform themselves into essential products for college students in the digital age, and this will require them to work more closely with business and IT students and professors.
Much more research is needed to help college media organizations thrive in this digital era, Buday and Guthlein believe. They are exploring the formation of a non-profit institute that would continue the research.
ABOUT BUDAY TLP: The firm is a thought leadership consultancy. It conducts best-practice research, advises on thought leadership strategy, and provides training on content development for B2B companies that compete on the basis of superior expertise. The firm is based in Hopkinton, Mass.
ABOUT WJG ASSOCIATES: Bill Guthlein leads a consultancy providing due diligence and asset management services to affordable housing institutional investors. The practice includes providing strategy advice to non-profits focused on affordable housing, environment, education and the arts. He is based in Acton, Mass.
Read the Study Here: CNO Research Report_February 2025