A new study has found that the COVID-19 pandemic had a significant impact on the independence of college media outlets both during and after the pandemic. The findings by University of Florida College of Journalism and Communications doctoral student Jessica Sparks, former Brechner Center for Freedom of Information Director Frank LoMonte and April Rubin, B.S. Journalism 2022, were featured in  “How COVID-19 has Affected College Newspapers: A Mixed Methods Study” published in the Newspaper Research Journal on May 16.

The authors explored how the COVID-19 pandemic, which shutdown colleges, businesses and caused a decline in student enrollment, had an impact on the independence of college media and how those impacts continue.

The authors created and examined a database of more than 500 active student news outlets in the U.S. to better understand how the pandemic affected routines and economic strategies.

According to the authors, “The results show that the pandemic did indeed have an effect on revenue and student participation. Interviews with these outlets revealed some progression toward digital initiatives as well as some worries about the future.”

They add, “How the university has set up its relationship with the news outlet, how the outlet hires staff, and the attributes of those staff are all inherently relevant to the content of the newspaper. In addition, advertisers and potential funding sources do play a role in the way editors, reporters, and advisers at college newspapers decide on the stories they select and publish.”

Posted: July 13, 2023
Category: Alumni News, Brechner Center, College News, Student News
Tagged as: April Rubin, Brechner Center for Freedom of Information, Frank LoMonte, Jesssica Sparks