Supported by large donations from high-profile donors, The Daily Free Press, Boston University’s independent student newspaper, raised more than $70,000 in about two days to allow the paper to continue printing in the spring semester.
After faced with a Dec. 31 deadline by its publisher, Turley Publications, the FreeP, as the paper is commonly known, launched a crowdsourcing campaign through social media and GoFundMe Monday. The fundraising effort was back by $50,000 from president and CEO of New England Subaru Ernie Boch Jr., $10,000 from Fox News talk show host Bill O’Reilly and more than 300 other contributions from alumni of the newspaper, faculty members of BU, students and family and friends of staff members.
“Thanks to the many donors, former FreePers, current FreePers, your parents, your sisters and brothers, your friends and people who love journalism, we are able to keep doing what we love to do,” said Tyler Lay, chairman of The Back Publishing Co., Inc., the governing body that oversees the paper, to a roomful of cheering editors and staff members in the Kenmore Square office. “We are very thankful.”
The publication was founded in 1970 after the Kent State shootings sparked violent protests on the BU campus. Although initially a daily print newspaper, the FreeP announced in May that the publication would shift to a digital-first model, posting content daily to its revamped website, and publish a paper once a week.
“We’re going to pay off Turley Publications as soon as we can,” said Lay, a senior in the College of Communication at BU. “We’re going to continue to strengthen our relationship with them. They’ve been great to us up to this point…and now we can continue to move forward.”
O’Reilly, an alumnus of BU who worked at the paper, called the FreeP Tuesday to donate $10,000 to the publication’s operations, according to Editor-in-Chief Kyle Plantz, a junior in COM.
Boch’s publicist, Peggy Rose, got in touch with Plantz Wednesday morning and offered to donate $50,000 once the FreeP raised $20,000, which it had with O’Reilly’s contribution, Plantz said.
“Bill O’Reilly was an alum of BU and of the FreeP so we have some of his archives here,” Plantz said. “But Ernie Boch Jr. has no relation to BU or journalism for that matter. We’re excited that he saw a worthy cause and I’m glad he donated.”
Boch said he donated to the fundraising campaign to ensure that the print version of the FreeP “stays alive and viable.”
“Newspapers at the local, regional, daily and, yes, collegiate level are all vital parts of our democracy,” he said in a Wednesday statement. “A vibrant newspaper ensures for a free exchange of ideas and Boston University’s independent student-run newspaper, The Daily Free Press, should continue to have that opportunity for its readers.”
FreeP alumni made up a significant portion of donors, with former FreeP-ers such as Don Van Natta Jr., a Pulitzer Prize winning reporter for ESPN, donating $300 and Andrew Cohen, a CBS News legal affairs correspondent, contributing $250 through the GoFundMe campaign.
“Kick ass, Free Press! From a grateful and proud alum (and editor-in-chief ‘84-‘85),” Van Natta wrote when he donated.
David Carr, a columnist at The New York Times and BU professor, and Thomas Fiedler, dean of COM, also donated to the cause.
Given a fresh start, free and clear from debt, members of the FreeP’s editorial board said their experience at the FreeP was invaluable and they are glad they can continue printing.
“Going through this stressful process of finding out that we are in debt and then rallying to raise the necessary funds really solidified for me, and for all of us I believe, why we are here,” said Stephanie Pagones, city editor. “Going through all of this made me realize how much The Daily Free Press really means to me. I don’t know where I’d be without the FreeP, and I’m happy I don’t have to find out.”
Acknowledging the contributions from over 44 years of FreeP alumni, Clinton Nguyen, multimedia editor, said the experiences the FreeP gives, and will continue to give its writers, is something that will be remembered by all staff members.
“Have you ever watched “Breakfast at Tiffany’s?” The FreeP is like Holly’s cat — that ragged thing that you just pick up and can’t just abandon, no matter what goes wrong, no matter how old you get,” he said. “It brings young journalists together, and the support that we’ve gotten shows that the love for this imperfect little thing can never really die.”
kyle plantz should not be the editor-in-chief. His writing style is actually quite terrible