The University of Louisville announced it will discontinue financial support for The Louisville Cardinal, its student newspaper, by the end of the Spring 2018 semester on July 25.
The Cardinal, which has been independent for 45 years, previously received $40,000 to $60,000 in advertising from the president’s and provost’s office, according to an article the paper put out Sept. 20.
John Karman, a spokesperson for the university, said funding for The Cardinal was cut because the university has been dealing with a budget shortfall.
"We’ve had to prioritize, and we made cuts across the board, and that was one of the things that we had to cut," he said. "This wasn’t sudden news. This was something that the student paper had been warned about for several years, and this will be the last year it will finally be available to them.”
Frank LoMonte, former executive director of the Student Press Law Center, said the student newsroom is an irreplaceable learning experience that duplicates a professional workplace, encourages development of leadership skills and is a laboratory for people to learn journalistic skills — which are transferable to a variety of other professions.
"Student-produced news gives the entire community the benefit of a unique insider’s perspective on the campus," he said.
Susan King, dean of the UNC School of Media and Journalism, said student news organizations are critical platforms that cover activities of a university and are a vital service to the community they serve.
She also said student news organizations provide students with irreplaceable journalism experience and often lead many to be prepared to handle professional positions within editorial settings upon graduation.
LoMonte said there are a handful of programs that have been successful at sustaining themselves independently, but that is getting harder.
