As a rule of thumb, I like giving others the benefit of the doubt. So, when dean of Liberal Arts Gerry Riposa makes a decision, I would like to think it is for the good of all students.
However, his recent decision to request a study to have the Daily Forty-Niner go online only casts doubt on this value he is called to uphold.
Riposa was quoted as saying, “Maybe it’s my political science background, but first I make a hypothesis, then I do research, then I make conclusions.”
This leads me to believe Riposa knew going into this that expenses run more than $300,000 per year, only roughly $60,000 of which come from printing costs. If the paper went online only, the approximately $500 generated ad revenue is not going to cover the remaining $240,000 needed to sustain the publication.
Without the ad revenue the print publication generates, the online publication will die as well.
What makes the most sense, business-wise? One only needs to look to the Los Angeles Times, arguably the most respected paper on the West Coast, which recently vamped up both its online and print editions with five special sections.
However, the Daily Forty-Niner is more than a business. It is a learning ground for CSULB’s journalism students who use the paper to gather story and photo clips that will help them land jobs in the real world.
The paper is also the university’s only daily source of campus news. It provides a forum for students to learn about and debate the issues and events that make up a thriving student community.
If Riposa and the rest of CSULB’s esteemed staff and faculty really want to do what is best for the students, they will devote any resources earmarked for this study to making both the online and print Daily Forty-Niner even stronger publications.
– Jennifer Frehn, Costa Mesa
The writer is currently a copy editor at the Daily Pilot and a former news editor for the Daily Forty-Niner and managing editor for Dig magazine.
