The students in The Office of Student Media are seeking a $4 mandatory per-semester fee to permanently fund the professional staff and baseline operating costs of The Office of Student Media.

This fee will appear as a referendum on the upcoming ASWSU election.

The Office of Student Media currently relies mainly on print advertising revenue and Services and Activities (S&A) funding. While that won’t change, Student Media is hoping to distance itself from the S&A process and stop asking for funding increases.

If passed, this fee will help make our funding consistent and reliable.

Funding will go toward three main budgetary concerns:

• Professional staff salaries
• Student employee wages
• Offsetting declining revenue from print advertising

There are many other things Student Media needs to pay for to keep their doors open, but these are our main concerns.

As a professional training platform for journalists, videographers, photographers, graphic designers, advertising representatives, writers, etc., we need advisers.

Our services have a competitive edge because we are able to pay our students for the hard work they do.

Declining print revenue is a problem for all newspapers, and Student Media is working diligently to diversify revenue streams to help offset these declining costs. However, right now, a portion of our budget does go toward offsetting print advertisements.

By voting yes, you are voting to support and continue programs like The Daily Evergreen, the Chinook Yearbook, and the WSU Visitors Magazine. You are voting to support the photobooth through Blue Tree Photography, and the upcoming foreign language podcasts. You are voting to provide professional training for students of all majors. 

For just $4 a semester, you would be investing in an award-winning institution that draws students and donors to WSU. You would be making that possible.