(Update, 2:15 p.m.) Tyler Lay, managing editor of The Daily Free Press, reported on Facebook that the necessary funds have been raised to save the print edition of the independent student newspaper. According to Lay, The FreeP has $10,000 pending from political commentator Bill O'Reilly, as well as $50,000 committed from car-dealership magnate Ernie Boch Jr. He continued:
The support from the Boston community, FreeP alums, and the greater sphere of journalists all over has been overwhelmingly encouraging. I can not thank all of you enough for helping to spread the word and donating!
Tweeted Kyle Plantz, editor-in-chief of The FreeP:
WE DID IT! This goes to show how important student journalism is. From @dailyfreepress board chairman: #FreePFund pic.twitter.com/qssoCWdkGm
— Kyle Plantz (@kylejplantz) November 12, 2014
——
Students behind Boston University's independent student newspaper The Daily Free Press aren't ready to permanently put their print edition to bed.
The Daily Free Press, widely recognized as The FreeP, launched a crowdfunding campaign Monday to dig itself out of nearly $68,000 in debt. In just 24 hours, more than $10,000 were raised. At the time of publication, that sum had climbed to $15,519.
Earlier this year, 44 years to the day the paper launched, The FreeP announced it would be going "digital-first." Rather than releasing a newspaper daily, the publication said 5,000 copies of a weekly print edition would be distributed throughout campus every Thursday. Although costs have been cut by 80 percent, according to The FreeP's Editor-in-Chief Kyle Plantz, because of the shift, the "debt from former cycles remain."
As explained on The FreeP's GoFundMe page:
Much like any other legitimate newspaper, we are a business, and a vast majority of our funding comes from advertisements. Our costs during the last 44 years have included paying a printer for daily print production, rent, and the many small fees associated with running a business.
The FreeP's publisher, Palmer, Mass.-based Turley Publications, has threatened to stop publishing the student newspaper if a majority of its debt isn't paid off by December 31, 2014. Come the start of the new year, The FreeP's print edition could become old news.
"My most formative reporter years began at the FreeP, as well as my most lasting college friendships. We all start somewhere, and so many of us started here."
"Each day, eager, talent students write, edit and publish stories for this publication," wrote Plantz. "Some work as much as 50-hour work weeks, completely unpaid."
Fellow Boston University students, parents of those students, alumni and former members of The FreeP have stepped up to save the paper, which was founded in 1970 in response to the Kent University shootings.
"My most formative reporter years began at The FreeP, as well as my most lasting college friendships," wrote one donor on the GoFundMe page. "We all start somewhere, and so many of us started here." Another added, "The FreeP helped me realized I wanted to be a reporter. There's no greater gift than that."
Following the paper's shift to digital, Plantz has said the staff is confident they "can now proceed as a self-sufficient company." They have turned to the Internet, however, to pay off the debt that would allow them to operate that freely, and are using the hashtag #FreePFund to raise awareness for the campaign.
"The support we've received from BU and FreeP alumni has been outstanding," shared the staff on GoFundMe, "but what's even more encouraging is the solidarity we've seen from student and professional journalists all across the country."
To show your solidarity, head here.
Image via Flickr User Henry Zbyszynski (CC BY 2.0)
