UCI students vote to save campus newspaper

The UCI campus newspaper will stay in print after students agreed to charge themselves a fee to keep the presses rolling.

Staffers at the New University student newspaper had campaigned for a 99-cents-per-quarter fee to finance the printing operation, warning that the longtime student paper could fold in a year otherwise.

In balloting last month, more than 72% of student voters approved the fee, which amounts to about $3 a year per student.

“I definitely was glad to see that there’s more support for us than I thought,” said Jessica Pratt, the newspaper’s student editor.

With Measure U, which called for the fee hike, the paper has guaranteed funding from students while it tries to find a sustainable revenue source, a tough challenge in an climate in which newspapers have suffered from rising printing costs and declining ad revenue.

“We’re still going to be working like we don’t have a lot of money,” Pratt said. “This revenue is basically going to cover printing costs, and everything else is going into reserves.”

Although Measure U won overwhelming support, it was only about 100 votes away from failing.

To pass, the initiative needed 25% of all students to vote on the measure, with 60% voting in favor.

It reached the needed 25% by only 139 votes, but it reached the 60% approval handily.

“I’m so happy that people understand the importance of the campus newspaper and that they voted for us,” Pratt said.

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jeremiah.dobruck@latimes.com