Indiana Daily Student staff is protesting Indiana University administration with a walkout on April 25. (Indiana University Bloomington)
Staff of the Indiana Daily Student will walk off their jobs Thursday.
In a Letter from the Editors, Editors-in-Chief Nic Napier and Salomé Cloteaux announced the move and explained IDS' financial troubles. The student media organization has a $900,000 deficit and no solution in sight.
Napier says the walkout isn’t antagonistic, and it should show the detrimental effects of cutting the IDS. Recent budget problems have resulted in staff cuts and decreases in printing newspapers.
“We won't be publishing anything this coming Thursday for 24 hours,” Napier said. “We will be releasing all the stories that we wrote, or that would have been published that day, at midnight.”
Napier said the IDS will publish breaking and emergency news on its social media if needed on Thursday.
Cloteaux said any more cuts would fundamentally change the IDS and its ability to serve the public.
“We regret that it's going to prevent us from doing our job and serving our community for one day,” Cloteaux said. “We feel that it's more important to send that message, to fight for the IDS’ future.”
Napier said the staff is also asking supporters to write to the administration and to share those letters on social media.
Media School Dean David Tolchinsky said creating a financial plan is a priority for the school. He said he’s a strong advocate of student media.
“I think it plays such an important part in the school’s agenda and program but also more broadly in democracy,” Tolchinsky said. “I've confirmed with the provost’s office that — this is not just me this is the university too — that strong, independent student media is very, very important.”
Cloteaux said as leaders of the IDS, they’ve had to deal with the publication’s financial issues instead of just focusing on their editorial jobs.
“That's not something that we should have to be dealing with as student editors,” Cloteaux said. “But it's unfortunately been part of the job description for the last few years.”
An IU Media School committee presented solutions for funding student media to Tolchinsky April 1, the IDS reported. The committee recommended combining three student media groups — the IDS, IUSTV and WIUX — under one umbrella. Leaders from the three groups and faculty were on the committee.
“The idea is to share professional staff members and to be united when it comes to business operations and advertising and marketing,” Cloteaux said. “We think that, together, we have more opportunities to generate revenue and collaborate.”
Media School Dean says plan in the works to support student media
Tolchinsky said the IDS letter took him by surprise, and he’s talked with student leaders. The new financial plan isn’t stalled, and he doesn't want to do this quickly and incorrectly. But he said he understands students’ anxiety and urgency.
“I reassured our student leaders that there's no deadline in terms of having to solve this,” Tolchinsky said.
Tolchinsky said he inherited the problem of funding student media when he began his role last fall. He said he spent his first few months understanding how the school works and seeing the importance of fact-based journalism at IU.
He said he created the Media School committee and asked faculty, alumni, and students to look into how to keep student media strong at IU and bring it into the future.
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He said he wants to make sure to preserve fact-based reporting as journalism evolves.
“I see them as where our students really dig in and try out what it's like to be a journalist,” Tolchinsky said. “And I think that's what's great about my school is, it's very hands on.”
He said he’s received exciting recommendations, but an actionable financial plan is still missing. Suggestions have to be balanced with university guidelines, and the committee is working ot see what’s possible.
He said a plan may be in place by this fall.
“My non-Dean hat is as a filmmaker, and always you're asked to account for money in expenses,” Tolchinsky said. “Especially in a public environment, you have to be held accountable for how you're spending money. So that's all being done right now.”
WIUX and IUSTV not in deficit
WIUX, an entertainment-focused student radio and online organization, has experienced drastic changes since President Natalie Ingalls joined. WIUX will not walk out on Thursday, but Ingalls said DJs will prepare messages encouraging donations and to write to the Board of Trustees.
“We're not in the negatives right now,” Ingalls said. “We have a reserve from previous years and we've been trying our best to work off of that. We'll also be creative about new ways of funding.”
Ingalls said WIUX’s funding was cut by the Committee for Fee Review during the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning student fees no longer contributed to WIUX. Ingalls estimated WIUX lost $20,000 per year in funding.
WIUX also can’t make money on air through advertisements because of its educational designation, Ingalls said. WIUX is a university student organization.
“The past few years have just been trying to figure out what we can do within our parameters as a USO, and as a non-commercial education system station,” Ingalls said. “There have proved to be options that are available that we've have just begun to explore.”
Ingalls said WIUX applied for help from the IU Funding Board to put on the annual Culture Shock music festival, and the group is considering underwriting from local businesses.
“On one hand, it's exciting for WIUX, at least, to have to be innovative, to figure out how to fund ourselves,” Ingalls said. “But on the other hand, it shouldn't really fall on the students to ensure that the organization continues for years to come.”
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Ingalls said the learning opportunities with WUIX, the IDS and IUSTV are sought out by students, and that the media groups are a staple on campus.
“The three of us are important, and any support that we can get from IU as an institution is definitely necessary,” Ingalls said.
IUSTV, a student-run TV station, will not participate in the walkout. Executive Director Emma Watson said in a statement she’s been working with the Media School to assess student media.
“We will continue to advocate for and ensure the prosperity of IUSTV and all of student media at IU,” Watson said.
Watson said IUSTV is in a stable position and eager to grow.
“Currently, IUSTV does not operate at a budget deficit, and we have remained net zero with our finances for the past three years,” Watson said. “My mission is to position IUSTV to eventually work as a monetized entity to provide an accelerated experience for students.”
IDS already faces staff and printing cuts
The IDS is an auxiliary organization, unlike WIUX and IUSTV. The IDS can monetize its work, and the group sells ads in print and online. But Cloteaux said the publication faces red tape when trying to find a financial solution.
Napier said fundraising, advertising and grant applications must be approved by the university.
“In a lot of times throughout the years, when we've tried to do something new to generate new revenue, we've been shut down,” Napier said. “That's been really frustrating, because we have tried to fix it ourselves.”
The IDS prints a physical newspaper only once a week now. Napier said community members still read the newspaper, and it’s keeping a physical historical record.
“Someone did call us, I think, last week, because they wanted to know about the news going on that day. But the paper hadn't come out yet. And they don't have internet access,” Cloteaux said. "A reporter called him and explained to him what was going on in the news.”
Then the reporter pledged to hand deliver the newspaper to the caller, Napier said.
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If the IDS can’t print its newspaper, then the publication loses out on advertising money, Cloteaux said.
Napier said in recent years, professional staff has been reduced from 11 to five people. The paper needs more staff to reach out to advertisers, work on finances and respond to ethical issues.
“They're crucial to our success,” Napier said.
This story was updated April 24 at 1:50 p.m. to include comments from Nic Napier, Salomé Cloteaux, Natalie Ingalls and Emma Watson. This story was updated again at 5:30 p.m. to include comments from Media School Dean David Tolchinsky.
Aubrey is our higher education reporter and a Report For America corps member. Contact her at aubmwrig@iu.edu or follow her on X @aubreymwright.
