Budget cuts create change for Rider News

By Jake Tiger and Hannah Newman

University administrators informed The Rider News on Aug. 1 that our print publication budget was completely cut for the current fiscal year in the midst of institution-wide, ongoing cost reductions. 

The Rider News is deeply disappointed by the decision, as the print edition of the paper has been a constant on campus for nearly a century; however, we also understand that Rider’s current financial situation and recurring deficits need to be fixed with difficult choices.

The news was untimely, and it forced us to make some drastic changes of our own with the fall semester only a month away. Thus, our operations this year will be a bit different, but we are excited about our new approach, which will better serve a modern audience and maximize our student-workers’ time and effort during this shift.

The Rider News will still provide coverage of the university nearly every week of the academic calendar, with approximately half of the issues being print editions and half being completely digital. The Rider News’ advertising revenue savings from previous years will cover this year’s print editions while we fine-tune our transition to a completely digital publication.

Since we can no longer be as consistent in our delivery method as we would like, our content schedule for the fall and spring semesters is published with this editorial for the convenience of our audience. The schedule includes publication dates and whether the issue will be in print and online or digital only. We continue to welcome campus advertisers to our print, online and social media platforms.

The student staff of The Rider News took great pride in delivering news to the community via a regular print edition for 94 years. It is a shame that our newsstands, where students, faculty and staff alike would normally grab our latest issue, will be empty at times. Over the years, The Rider News has consistently won state, regional and even national journalism awards. The newspaper has served as a critical venue of profound and dedicated engaged learning for journalism, sports media and graphic design majors. It has welcomed writers, photographers and editors from disciplines across the university.

As an additional compromise, the traditional, 12-page paper has been cut down to eight pages to accommodate our financial limitations. While we are grateful to be printing at all this year, losing a third of our pages is saddening. It eats into the creativity of our staff as well as the ways they can present content. It also diminishes the amount of hands-on experience they get with layout and design. This experience is even more critical for student-workers, as the skill and work samples can be an advantage when applying for jobs and internships.

A digital edition will remain available every week of publication as The Rider News continues to modernize itself.

This year, The Rider News promises to strengthen its online presence with a greater emphasis on visual storytelling, podcasting and social media. We have taken steps to make The Rider News’ content more visually appealing and engaging online to better suit the way media is consumed today. Additionally, we plan on investing in tools and technologies to improve our work across digital and social media platforms.

The Rider News has also partnered with 107.7 The Bronc to produce various podcasts and radio shows that will complement our weekly coverage.

As creators, holding a physical copy of our work was something we always looked forward to on Wednesdays. Whether it be a thought-provoking story or a vibrant graphic, the print publication of The Rider News was a vital source of motivation and pride for students who got a jolt of passion from seeing their name and work in the newspaper.

It is hard to imagine that students in the very near future may never have this feeling, but The Rider News remains determined in our reliable and comprehensive coverage of all aspects of the university, no matter the medium.

This change was sudden and upsetting for all of us, but we are prepared to make the most of the situation. Despite fewer print editions this year, we plan to still deliver the rich content the Rider community has counted on since the first issue in 1930.