A Daily Trojan newspaper sits in a newsstand inside the Student Union building on the University of Southern California’s campus in Los Angeles on March 4, 2025. (Photo by Zach Bradshaw/Cronkite News)
LOS ANGELES – “Disappointed” is the word echoed by writers and staff at the Daily Trojan, the University of Southern California’s only independent student newspaper.
In early December 2024, leaders at the acclaimed newspaper found out its budget would be quashed, eliminating its traditional five-days-per-week print schedule, staff stipends, travel budgets, food and website funds, and any other money the paper was receiving from the university.
Stefano Fendrich, the paper’s editor-in-chief, recalls receiving the news from the university’s Student Life, which allocates funds to USC clubs and organizations.
“They basically just said, this is what’s happening, we’re cutting all of this.”
He and other leaders were blindsided.
Leading up to the decision, the paper’s leaders had grown frustrated with representatives from Student Life not providing transparency about budget concerns, even after they had asked the university for more insight into how funds were distributed.
“We, I guess, foolishly thought that the administration and Student Life had been listening to us,” Fendrich said.
“We do want to work with the university where possible, but all of that is based on the fact that they have not been transparent with us in the years leading up to this,” said Nicholas Corral, Daily Trojan associate managing editor. “There were plenty of off-ramps where we could have been brought into discussions, where we could have … worked to find solutions.”
According to a statement from USC Student Life, the Daily Trojan was operating at an annual deficit of over $100,000 for over three years, which was covered by the university.
The paper did, however, receive revenue through advertising, but when revenue goals weren’t reached, university faculty members said the bar was set too high.
“As the newspaper industry continues to evolve, and advertising revenue has trended downward, we believe the Daily Trojan needs a new business model,” wrote USC Student Life in a statement.
“We continue to work directly with the student senior management team to adjust their expenses and develop a more sustainable business model. We are dedicated to ongoing engagement and planning with the Daily Trojan’s student leaders. Student Life has been and remains committed to the value and role of student media, and we look forward to finding a way to ensure their prosperity.”
Fendrich said he understands why budget cuts happen, and said it makes sense to cut costs where necessary, but the last-minute timing of the cuts was frustrating.
“They told us very late in the game, which made it impossible for us, as student leaders … to even do anything – make any sort of changes, solutions, anything,” Fendrich said. He had left campus for winter break by the time he heard the news.
The first week of December was finals week, and most students were either studying or traveling home for winter break.
“They seemed to make it very clear that ‘we’re doing this and you have no say in what’s happening,’” he said.
Fendrich and the paper’s leaders spent much of winter break researching different ways to fundraise and how to handle the tight budget.
“We spent most of winter break focused on, ‘What can we do? Is there any way we can negotiate with the university?’” said Corral, who said he thought it might be impossible to print during the spring.
The immediate solution was fundraising, and the paper has started numerous initiatives, including printing and selling their magazine for the first time, and freeing up more space online and in print for advertising.
The paper is also planning a program where staff will tutor local high schoolers on journalism techniques, set up workshops and create breaking news simulations.
The Daily Trojan continues to publish three times per week, but the cuts left a mark on how the paper can cover campus news.
With the travel budget slashed, reporters can no longer easily travel to USC sports teams’ away games. Tournaments in other cities or March Madness will be near impossible to cover, Fendrich said.
The paper also used to provide twice-weekly food for its reporters, which can make a big difference for reporters, some of whom spend up to seven hours per day in the newsroom, multiple days per week.
The Daily Trojan website also crashes frequently, according to Fendrich, and the lack of money to update the website makes news delivery challenging.
The funding slash, Fendrich said, didn’t affect staff retention, as the paper still has a mix of paid and unpaid editors and writers on the over 300-person staff.
“These budget cuts are making it way, way harder for us to provide the best coverage that we can,” Fendrich said.
Despite the budget battle and the abrupt cuts, the paper is moving forward.
“We’re trying to … better our situation and help continue the future of the Daily Trojan,” Fendrich said.
The Daily Trojan is a vital part of campus life, said Zachary Whalen, Daily Trojan assistant news editor, because its reporters are often the only eyes and ears on the scene when something happens.
“We can be there to shed light on what’s happening, offer different perspectives, have photographs … and bring light and awareness to things happening that not every single person that you would see can get to,” Whalen said. “I think that’s a really important role that we play.”
Some comments on the Daily Trojan Instagram post advocating for more control of the budget read “I love the Daily Trojan! I would buy merch,” and “We support you DT!!”
Corral saw how important the paper was to USC student life last spring when the university closed its gates as hundreds of students made encampments to protest the Israel-Palestine conflicts.
“Student media, on-campus media was the only media reporting on what was happening. … We were doing live updates, we were doing live streams and we were putting out articles and talking to administrators,” Corral said. “We were the only ones who were able to do that.”
For Corral, knowing the impact of the paper keeps him going, and he hopes its other staff members feel the same way. “We still feel an obligation to serve our community.”
Numerous media organizations have also been hit hard with budget cuts, notably the Los Angeles Times and Washington Post.
Despite Corral’s hopes, college newspapers are feeling the trickle-down.
“The fact that we’re no longer funded is a bellwether for what is happening nationally.”