In many ways, this edition represents a landmark for The Exponent. As I explain in more detail on page 10, it is the paper’s first Special Edition in several years, providing what is to my knowledge a unique examination of MSU’s campus culture through the forum of student journalism. At the same time, its publication comes at a pivotal moment in The Exponent’s 115-year history.
As I’ve written on several occasions in the past, The Exponent--like much of the print media industry--finds itself at a crossroads. The publication ended last year with a $30,000 revenue shortfall, the product of poor advertising sales. Despite a remarkable effort from our ad sales staff this semester, we are still struggling. To date, we’ve brought in only $17,500 of our $24,000 sales target.
On the whole, our staff must take responsibility for our position. As a student-run business, our day-to-day operation is a learning process for all of us. In recent years, both the organization of our business and quality of our coverage has been sporadic at best. While we’ve begun to dig ourselves out of the resulting hole, we need to do better.
At the same time, we find ourselves caught up in larger trends--the continued impact of the recession on Montana’s businesses and the long-term decline of the print media industry as online coverage replaces traditional newspapers.
Excuses aside, it falls to our staff and the members of the ASMSU Senate--the body responsible for allocating the student dollars that subsidize our budget--to find a way forward for this publication. While senators could very well resolve our financial situation with cuts alone, to do so would sound this paper’s death knell.
After all, there is yet hope for our student newspaper. The amount of time, talent and dedication put into this publication by the 40-odd members of our staff this semester has been nothing short of incredible. We’ve made extraordinary strides in the quality of coverage we provide MSU’s campus community.
Furthermore, those efforts have begun to bear tangible fruit. Unlike many papers nationwide, our readership is growing--in recent weeks, we’ve had difficulty keeping papers stocked on some of our higher-traffic news stands. Reader engagement, as gauged by the number of community-submitted letters, rants and guest columns, is the highest it’s been for as long as I’ve been involved with the publication.
There is no doubt in my mind that The Exponent provides a crucial service to the student body. While our coverage is certainly not without its flaws, it is better now than at any time in the recent past. Our content this semester--from news coverage of spending decisions made by student government to restaurant reviews to our weekly crossword--has made a positive difference in the experience of thousands of students. The special edition we present this week underscores that.
However, as a community newspaper, we need the support of our readers. If you’re a student who cares about The Exponent’s role on campus, let your representatives in student government know we’re worth supporting, either directly or through our letters section. If you’re a local business owner, give us the opportunity to work with you to meet your advertising needs. If nothing else, share your ideas with us--as always, at editor@exponent.montana.edu.
