2008 Woodie Awards
Western Oregon Journal forced to make cutbacks for spring term: the black cover
Jeffrey Sawyer
Issue date: 4/11/08 Section: Headlines
The budget for the Western Oregon Journal is in dire straights and Editor-in-Chief Gerry Blakney has been forced to make several cuts for the rest of the school year.
The Journal started this year with what the interim student media advisor, Dr. Curt Yehnert calls "an ambitious plan."
This year the Journal increased in length from eight pages to 12. The number of color pages also increased from four to six and the quality of paper was increased as well. Yehnert believed these upgrades were possible after he was assured by Blakney that added advertisement revenue would cover the extra costs.
Other funds have been lost through printing costs. According to Blakney, no one was around at the beginning of the year to tell him how much the Journal had available for printing. He claims that Dr. Gary Dukes, Vice President for Student Affairs, told him that the printing budget was $22,000. It was not until a few months into the year that Blakney realized that the budget provided by Dukes was the total printing budget for all of student media (including the Northwest Passage), of which only $17,000 was alotted for the Journal.
If the Journal had not made any cuts this term, student media would be nearly $20,000 in the hole at the end of this year, according to Blakney.
"Mistakes were made because our advisor was removed and adequate advice was not given to myself," said Blakney. "The budget was created last year on figures that were not necessarily reflective of what we would spend and what it costs to stay in business. If Susan Wickstrom had not been removed as the Student Media advisor the Journal would not have been in this situation. I don't think that Dr. Dukes or the administration actually knew how much Susan held the paper together."
Blakney admits that the proposed advertisement revenue was set too high before the year even started, but hoped that the plan he started in September would carry the Journal through the year. It was set for $15,000 last year before Blakney took his position as EIC, even though the Journal typically only raises $8,000.
The Journal started this year with what the interim student media advisor, Dr. Curt Yehnert calls "an ambitious plan."
This year the Journal increased in length from eight pages to 12. The number of color pages also increased from four to six and the quality of paper was increased as well. Yehnert believed these upgrades were possible after he was assured by Blakney that added advertisement revenue would cover the extra costs.
Other funds have been lost through printing costs. According to Blakney, no one was around at the beginning of the year to tell him how much the Journal had available for printing. He claims that Dr. Gary Dukes, Vice President for Student Affairs, told him that the printing budget was $22,000. It was not until a few months into the year that Blakney realized that the budget provided by Dukes was the total printing budget for all of student media (including the Northwest Passage), of which only $17,000 was alotted for the Journal.
If the Journal had not made any cuts this term, student media would be nearly $20,000 in the hole at the end of this year, according to Blakney.
"Mistakes were made because our advisor was removed and adequate advice was not given to myself," said Blakney. "The budget was created last year on figures that were not necessarily reflective of what we would spend and what it costs to stay in business. If Susan Wickstrom had not been removed as the Student Media advisor the Journal would not have been in this situation. I don't think that Dr. Dukes or the administration actually knew how much Susan held the paper together."
Blakney admits that the proposed advertisement revenue was set too high before the year even started, but hoped that the plan he started in September would carry the Journal through the year. It was set for $15,000 last year before Blakney took his position as EIC, even though the Journal typically only raises $8,000.
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