ST. GEORGE, Utah (AP) — A Utah university newspaper believes budget cuts are targeting the publication and could impact the school’s journalism program.
The Spectrum reported Wednesday that staff members at the Dixie Sun News say a planned cut to student fees is administrative retaliation for the newspaper’s coverage of stories that damage the image of Dixie State University.
The Spectrum reports that the committee overseeing student funds decided this month to cut 25 cents allocated for journalism from each $1 collected to finance student activities at the school 300 miles (483 kilometers) south of Salt Lake City.
The publication’s faculty adviser says student fees comprise about half of its budget.
The university’s vice president of academics says the cut is meant to prompt a 50 percent reduction in printed copies to reduce paper waste.
