To the Triton community,
Hi, again. Last time we spoke, you all learned about the budget crisis The UCSD Guardian is and has been facing. I wrote about the many threats against free speech and free press, how these threats have manifested at UC San Diego, and how they will and have already rippled into democracy’s decline.
To those of you who signed our petition and all who stand in solidarity with The Guardian, we are so grateful. Now, we are asking for your help again. We are proud to announce the PRESS — Protect our Right to Express Student Stories — referendum, a quarterly student fee of $3.50 that would fund the survival and longevity of The Guardian by covering our operating costs. It is on YOUR student ballot this week.
Until now, there has never been an opportunity to secure protections for journalism at this university. Without an academic program or a faculty advisor, the free press at UCSD has always been sustained sheerly by the passion of individual volunteers and editors paid cents per hour. Nevertheless, The Guardian has never faltered in our role as the primary source of by-student, for-student news, knowing that we serve a necessary public service for our local community.
Visa terminations, arrests of student writers, and federal funding cuts are occurring all across the country — and UCSD is no exception. American society and higher education are facing dire conditions, and The Guardian’s staffers are working overtime to give you the information you need to navigate these constant changes.
That said, we are stretched thin. The Guardian needs the protection and security of a reliable long-term funding structure to properly investigate and report amid the pressures of those who want to shut us down. PRESS would guarantee this.
Some have called journalism an invisible job — and trust me, it is a job. Every article you read from The Guardian goes through a minimum of 10 to 15 hours of labor before publishing, from interviewing to writing to editing to copy reading to designing to photographing and then back to our editors again. This is so we can deliver you the best coverage of the critical issues we know matter most to you.
Through The Guardian, the student body has been able to stay informed with access to our articles about how global and national issues affect our peers and our community, written by trained and passionate student journalists who get it in a way that mainstream media just doesn’t. From the Gaza Solidarity Encampment last May to the deaths on campus this year, we were there to ensure you knew what was going on.
You might have also seen some of our lighter coverage, like the historic Triton appearance in March Madness this year. We were so proud to have provided you with live updates, but what you might not know is that — had our writers not been willing and able to pay out of pocket for flights and lodging to Denver — The Guardian would not have even been able to cover it at all. This is just one of many examples of how above-and-beyond our journalists go, because we believe in the mission of student journalism.
The Guardian is and has always been committed to transparent, ethical, and accessible student reporting since our founding in 1967. Without adequate funding, however, we have been forced to make decisions that put these values at risk. The PRESS referendum, if it passes, will allow The Guardian not only to survive, but to grow and improve as a news organization serving our UCSD community.
Many have suggested that we, instead, take money from Associated Students or charge a subscription fee to resolve our crisis. While we acknowledge that these other funding avenues may exist, pursuing them would compromise our integrity.
Believe me when I say that The Guardian leadership has now exhausted all other possible modes of funding; from advertising to donations to grants, our student workers — who would have rather been reporting — have worked tirelessly to build up enough revenue to continue operating this year. It still might not be enough to prevent our shutdown, especially without the promise of the referendum to heal our deficit.
If passed, the PRESS referendum gives The Guardian the security of funding without forcing us to sacrifice our independence. It is based on similar referendums that fund the campus newspapers at many other UCs, and it would change journalism at UCSD forever for the better.
The hallmark of the free press is its freedom: the ability for the student voice to be represented and amplified without censure, the free flow of information with a forum for discourse, and the possibility for every student interested in becoming a journalist to have access to the necessary training. At UCSD, The Guardian has fulfilled all of these duties since our founding, and we are now asking for your help to continue doing so.
Passing the PRESS referendum will allow The Guardian to last and thus ensure that free press continues on our campus. In order to pass, however, we need at least 8,000 UCSD students to vote. We’re asking you now to, please, vote YES on PRESS, and to tell everyone you know.
It’s down to you to decide. I’ll be voting YES; will you join me?
With love,
Adalia
If you want more details on what PRESS is or will do, please refer to our informational site here.
This letter is endorsed by The UCSD Guardian Editorial board, the non-hierarchical, student-run decision-making body which manages The Guardian organization as an entity.
