The SIU Board of Trustees voted unanimously in favor of the $9 student media fee today during a special meeting at Birger Hall in Edwardsville. The fee will supplement SIU-Carbondale’s student newspaper the Daily Egyptian.

Board Chairman Randal Thomas said the board never had any intention of letting the DE go under.

“The board passed on the fee early, and we did so because we felt we needed more information,” he said. “We needed some assurances of what the DE was and what its future was.”

The fee was originally presented at the trustees meeting in May, but was tabled for further discussion. President Randy Dunn asked members of the DE to form a working group of industry professionals to assess two main issues: printing costs and advertising rates.

https://dailyegyptian.com/media-fee-awaits-board-approval/

Director of the School of Journalism William Freivogel said he is very excited for the future of the Daily Egyptian, and proud of everyone who put in their time and support.

“I think we are in a lot better shape than two months ago when the fee was put off,” he said. “We got lots of good revenue ideas from the swat team Dunn asked us to form. We got the enthusiasm of the Daily Egyptian alums who saw that the paper could be in trouble and came to our aid.”

https://dailyegyptian.com/savethede-2/

Other items discussed in today’s meeting were the $9 increase to the athletic fee, which passed 5-1. Trustees also unanimously voted down a contract renewal with marketing firm Lipman Hearne.

Separate stories to follow.