Hanging in the Balance

The future of UC-Berkeley's student newspaper apparently hangs on a vote today.

From the San Francisco Chronicle: The Daily Californian faces its latest and most dire existential threat this week as students are being asked to vote themselves a $6 per semester fee to keep the student-run and independent newspaper in business, after 150 years.

A “Save the Daily Cal Initiative” is being voted on this week as part of the campus wide election for officers to the Associated Students of the University of California. A simple majority is needed to pass, but the tougher hurdle is that it requires 20 percent of the student body to vote, either online or in person. A similar election last year failed to achieve the 20 percent threshold but that was during COVID-19 when the campus was largely closed.

“If the fee initiative doesn’t pass, the Daily Californian as we know it will cease to exist,” said Jasper Kenzo Sundeen, editor in chief and president. “Without student support, the newspaper won’t be able to give the community its news.”

The Daily Cal, as it is commonly known, is independent of university authority, as is its rival, the Stanford Daily. The Daily Cal office is off campus and the paper receives no direct university funding other than from its students, bolstered by alumni and philanthropic support. The news department covers both the UC Berkeley campus and the City of Berkeley and is free both online and in print, with 8,000 broadsheet copies circulated on news racks throughout the city...

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/UC-Berkeley-student-vote-this-week-may-determine-17060066.php.