Level the Playing Field | Fund Award-Winning Student Media

I’m Richard Craig, journalism professor and faculty advisor to the Spartan Daily, SJSU’s daily student news outlet.

Our student media outlets have enjoyed amazing success and impact for many years as their resources have dwindled. The Spartan Daily has been named Best Student Newspaper nationwide in four competitions since 2020 and statewide five times during the same period, becoming a recognized role model for in-depth reporting at public institutions. Update News (TV), Access (magazine) and the Spear (magazine) have also won numerous honors at the state and regional levels.

Yet none of our student media outlets receives any direct funding from the university. This is in contrast to many of our California competitors, even at CSUs and other public institutions. Several of these student media programs receive between $100,000 and $300,000 per year from their universities for production of physical and digital media, recognizing that they provide a vital service for their campuses. Our student news outlets have done amazingly well under the circumstances, but it’s getting harder and harder to overcome these disadvantages.

We seek funding to help level the playing field, to raise our profile on campus, to reinforce and expand SJSU’s reputation in this important area, and to more effectively recruit new students to continue this outstanding work.