The Daily Free Press accepted a $78,000 print and online advertising deal from the Boston University Dean of Students Office, a deal that allowed the newspaper to repay its significant debt and get on stronger financial footing, a member of the board of directors of Back Bay Publishing, Inc. said in a phone interview on Tuesday.
Board members signed off on the deal with Dean of Students Kenneth Elmore in February and used the payment to settle the rest of its debt to its printer, said Board Chair Scott McLaughlin, a College of Communication senior.
In Summer of 2010, McLaughlin said he and other board members realized that without financial help, the Free Press could have been on the verge of bankruptcy.
However, with careful spending and the added revenue from advertising provided by the Dean of Students Office, McLaughlin said the Free Press’ debts have been almost all paid off. He said that, before the board accepted the advertising offer, the Free Press had to make cuts from the newspaper’s budget to stay afloat for the Fall semester.
“It was a lot of tough decisions that none of us wanted to make but needed to be made and did help, did cut into the debt, along with just responsible spending and making sure we were only spending money on what we needed.”
The board also wanted to ensure that the newspaper would retain its independence from the university, a sentiment Elmore said he could understand.
“I think The FreeP generally gets concerned when there is any sort of appearance that there may be a lack of independence,” Elmore said in a phone interview. “I think at that time the Free Press was trying to figure it out whether or not what we had offered fit in with their values for what it means to be an independent newspaper.”
Meetings to hammer out the terms of the deal began in October of 2010, when members of the board of directors agreed in principle to Elmore’s offer. The deal also included offers to provide business consultants for the Free Press.
Like many other newspapers across the nation, the Free Press fell victim to deflating advertising sales as news sources transitioned online.
“The FreeP’s financial problems started mostly because we just didn’t adjust to the changing industry quick enough,” McLaughlin said.
“We kept falling further and further into debt, but over the last few years we’ve done a lot to cut into that debt.”
Cuts have been a fixture at the independent student newspaper for several years. The Free Press moved from its location at 842 Commonwealth Ave. to a cheaper location in Kenmore Square in Spring 2008, and in 2009 the newspaper cut its Friday edition. Circulation and the size of papers were also cut.
“It definitely made a difference but it got to the point this year where as much as we could cut into it there was still a very real possibility we were going to go bankrupt,” McLaughlin. “At one point it looked like that was only a month or two months away.”
Responsible spending or not, the Free Press was, like many business, unprepared to deal with the loss of advertising revenue it experienced during the Great Recession of 2007.
In 2009, the Free Press’ revenues from advertising and donations hit a five-year low, taking in just over $166,000, according to tax forms. That number was down from $372,000 in 2006.
The board of directors initially turned down a previous offer from Elmore to give the Free Press a loan to help pay off its debts, but McLaughlin said the most recent deal will help the newspaper move forward.
“This deal is really a great thing for the FreeP. We’ve been operating in debt for so long, it’s really hindered what we’ve been able to do for the last couple of years, even if we’ve been able to keep up on our payments,” McLaughlin said.
“The problem is we were always trying to cut in to that huge debt. The fact that were now on even ground with out having that much debt on our back, it’s a great thing for the future of this paper.”
Elmore said the money for the most recent offer came from a “discretionary fund,” and did not take away from any Dean of Students Office advised groups.
“We want the Free Press to exist, and continue to exist,” Elmore continued.
“The Free Press plays an important role in giving students another way to voice opinion and thought here. And that’s important for a large urban research university. We have to have an institution like a Daily Free Press that our students run and manage.
Back Bay Publishing, Inc. is the student-run, non-profit organization that heads the business side of the Free Press. Its board of directors is made up of former editors and writers for the newspaper, advertising and business managers, and the current editor-in-chief.
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