More than 3,200 newspapers in the United States have closed since 2005, leaving only about 5,600. Newsroom employment at U.S. newspapers dropped by nearly half (47%), from about 71,000 workers to 38,000 between 2008 and 2019. The paid circulation numbers for daily weekday newspapers are even more alarming. They have plummeted from almost 63 million in 1985 to less than 21 million in 2022.
On college campuses, newsrooms are also losing steam. Staff sizes have dwindled, and many have abandoned the practice of printing a paper altogether. Stories have been left untold, leaders have not been held accountable and campuses have lost a sense of connection.
For nearly 100 years, The Miami Hurricane has powered through various struggles, delivering pivotal information to students and recording the university’s history. But, our work is only worthwhile if people read it. Without interest and faith in our reporting, our articles are only words. To last another 100 years, we need our readers. It’s up to you to help us save it.
The Hurricane must exist. It’s woven into the structure of UM and serves as a necessary bridge between student life, administration, faculty and alumni. To lose the newspaper would be to lose the voice of students altogether.
The Hurricane’s vital role
On a random weekday in 2024, students received letters alerting them that their financial aid would be adjusted as a part of a Financial Aid Course Audit. The email said their classes were not a part of their course of study and would cease to be covered by financial aid.
No one knew what that meant and no one at the university would comment. This out-of-the-blue email left students wondering if they had to take out tens of thousands in loans or graduate semesters earlier than planned.
Frustrated students began privately messaging members of The Hurricane at all hours asking if we could help them understand the policy. Some students tried to solve the issue independently. Some told their parents. Some complained to faculty members. But the university failed to clarify its policy for weeks.
“When there’s an information void, there’s rumors, there’s panic, and there’s no spotlight on what the government is doing,” Sallie Hughes, department chair of journalism and media management at the School of Communication, said. “So student newspapers have a huge role to play.”
When students felt abandoned by the university they paid for, The Hurricane was there.
We played a crucial role in capturing the widespread anxiety of students and parents. To write our articles, we sent the University nonstop requests for comment, conducted student interviews and researched the policy. We were then able to publish an explanation of the policy, cover students’ discontent with the university, and author an editorial that urged the university to be more transparent.
Following our coverage, the university explained exactly how the policy worked, allowing students and parents to plan their academic paths. When student voices are united and have a newspaper to amplify those voices, the university is more compelled to address them.
“They report on not just policy changes, but when things happen in the school,” said sophomore architectural engineering major Bahar Arian. “Like when the president steps down, obviously we hear about that, but when they change their policies or when academic structures change … you couldn’t find that information elsewhere. I’m not going on UM’s website to see if they talk about that, if they even disclose it.”
Steven Priepke, deputy dean of students and financial manager for student media, said that student media on campuses is “everything.”
“I think it’s so important not to be afraid to say what is on students’ minds and to explore that and talk about that is at the very heart of what education and journalism is supposed to be,” said Priepke.
What happens then if student media is not there? Will the university have to rely on the unmonitored posts of anonymous Instagram accounts, or will they turn to News@theU, the university’s sanctioned news and communication platform?
While a genuine source of information that shares the school’s many accomplishments, News@theU is ultimately a part of the university’s public relations vision. They are unlikely to publish the unsavory and hard-to-discuss events of the day. Unlike TMH, News@theU was not rushing to cover the collapse of the Mahoney-Pearson roof just a few days ago.
TMH’s coverage is the first draft of the history of the university.
Sometimes, this history isn’t pretty. TMH covered every step of desegregation on UM’s campus, interviewing black student leaders when many others refused to give them a voice.
These archives are now essential to constructing UM’s history, reflecting on the university’s journey to racial equality and appreciating the trailblazing commitments of civil rights leaders on campus. It’s a history UM is now proud to tell.
Our irreplaceable effort
When students bought parking passes for the Red Lot in 2023, they did not realize the spots would be impossibly narrow. Most cars covered multiple spots, forcing students to miss classes as they searched for available spots. Parked vehicles were commonly scuffed and crashes happened daily.
RedCup Miami, another form of student media, publicized the issue with videos of crashes, dents and hit-and-runs. The posts helped to capture the mayhem that Red Lot parkers experienced. This awareness is important, and the Hurricane values the work that RedCup does to represent its students. However, the Hurricane and RedCup serve different roles, each essential in their own way.
The exhaustive work that goes into a Hurricane article is what differentiates it from social media platforms. When we added to the RedCup coverage with our own piece, we solicited responses from the university about the issue, consolidated student opinions from a range of sources, and provided important context for those outside of the UM community.
Our article will live on as part of the historical record of the University of Miami. In 100 years, readers will be able to look back and see the story of the Red Lot in its entirety via our article.
The Hurricane is the most comprehensive, neutral and accurate source for on-campus information.
Unlike new, alternative forms of media, our reporters follow ethical principles and are committed to reporting the truth. Most social media accounts do not professionally fact-check their stories, nor do they carry out interviews to achieve a well-rounded presentation of information.
Big headline stories like these don’t get written overnight, and they demand more than a quick social media post. They require rigorous reporting, intense commitment and skill.
“When the student newspaper prints an article that people really want to read, sometimes it’s so popular that the site is busy,” Priepke continued. “Those are exciting times. I think that’s always possible. As long as that’s possible, you’ll have a student newspaper.”
When affirmative action was overturned in June 2023, our editorial team immediately took note of how it could impact the university. We stuck with the story for months. When UM hesitated to share enrollment demographics in the fall, we pushed back.
For weeks, our reporters had heard whispers from student leaders that freshman membership in Black student organizations was noticeably low. After several conversations, UM entrusted us with receiving that data before anyone else. In the end more than 100,000 people viewed the story.
That story, seemingly simple, was the culmination of months of work. But if readers only care about supporting us in those top headline moments, who will be there in the in-between moments?
Money still matters
We’re 1,300 words into this article and have yet to even talk about funding.
Journalism revenue has cratered over the past few decades. Digital journalism has wholly replaced print journalism at some universities and local papers, eliminating print advertising revenue, which was once their largest source of funding. A Pew Research Center study found that between 2008 and 2018, newspaper advertising revenue fell from $37.8 billion to $14.3 billion, a 62% decline. The result is that many newsrooms can’t afford to pay many of their employees.
The challenge in securing funding extends to college newspapers. Our paper relies on financial support from the university, which gets supplemented by advertising revenue. While most of the University funding goes to the paper’s overhead, the advertising revenue directly compensates our writers, editors, and printing. If advertising dollars dry up, then we would be forced to reduce compensation.
How is that relevant to our readers? Advertisers care when students are engaged with the paper. The more readers, the more ads and the more revenue we need to survive.
What can you do to help?
Most people, unfortunately, find it easy to ignore newspapers. They complain that news can be negative, even depressing. It can require thought and reflection to understand a story. And it takes time to read what TMH publishes every week.
But as a paying student of this university you should want to stay informed. It’s crucial to stay aware of what the university is doing and if that aligns with your values and expectations for your college experience.
Your support and engagement matter beyond improving our readership numbers. As much as you count on us to let you know when something important is happening, we have to trust that you’ll have our backs if our place on campus is threatened.
TMH is dedicated to continuing serving students — covering important issues, empowering student voices, holding individuals accountable and adapting to the times.
Even though this staff won’t be around for the next centennial, our fondest wish is that those who are will come to celebrate UM’s 200 years and find The Miami Hurricane’s nameplate still splashed on every corner of our campus.