After 89 years of weekly print editions, Howard University’s student newspaper The Hilltop is considering a permanent end to its print newspaper.

The possible transition to an online-only platform comes in the wake of a financial crisis that forced The Hilltop to suspend all print publication for the first six weeks of the semester.

According to a piece published by the paper’s editor in chief, campus news editor, and a staff writer, The Hilltop left the spring 2019 semester $280,000 in debt. Each semester, the newspaper requests $50,000 from the university’s Student Life and Activities fee. According to university officials, two checks were not deposited into the Hilltop’s account on time. Staff members in the accounting and student life and activities offices have not determined an explanation for the mishap.

Entering into the fall semester this year, the paper’s editor-in-chief Jaylin Paschal was instructed not to hire any more staff members, and the publication could not print an issue for the first six weeks of the semester, according to the story in The Hilltop. Now, after one print edition, the paper is considering ending its print edition completely. Caprice King, the current administrative assistant for Student Life and Activities, said that the paper will need to bring in $60,000 annually to cover the costs of printing a weekly issue. Howard University, Paschal, other Hilltop editors, and the newspaper’s board members did not respond to requests for comment.

Howard Student Life and Activities has suggested that the newspaper go online-only, following in the footsteps of other D.C. colleges like University of Maryland’s The Diamondback, and American University’s The Eagle. The Hilltop’s board, which governs its financial management, has yet to vote on a decision.

In late September 2019, The Diamondback announced a change come March: it would no longer be publishing a weekly print edition, after more than a century in circulation.  The editor in chief of the newspaper, which is managed by the parent company Maryland Media Inc., said that growing economic pressures and the increase in online readership pushed the publication to make the transition.

“This is where our readership is, so we’re trying to meet them where they are,” said editor in chief Leah Brennan in the announcement.

Starting this year, American University’s newspaper, The Eagle, publishes only one print edition per semester. In 2013, when the publication went bankrupt after almost 88 years of weekly printing, it transitioned to two printed editions per semester. Now, the publication functions on a stricter budget, and publishes its content through its website and social media channels. (Disclosure: AU holds the license for DCist’s parent company, WAMU)

Jane Hall, an associate professor of journalism in American University’s School of Communication, says that while the transition to a digital platforms loses the nostalgia of a physical newspaper, it does not have to detract from the quality of the student’s reporting.

“There’s a great college newspaper tradition of covering protests, especially in the 1960s and playing a real role culturally,” Hall tells DCist. “These college newspapers still play that role.”

George Washington University, where I am a student, has one of the few student newspapers in the District that still publishes a weekly newspaper, as does Georgetown. The independent newspaper The Hatchet is funded by a non-profit and receives most of its ad revenue through print advertising, says editor-in-chief Sarah Roach. The publication, which distributes roughly 2,000 copies per issue, was in debt only two years ago, before changing locations and giving up an office they could not afford.

Roach says that, as an editor, she prefers putting together a print issue rather than posting stories online, but understands the appeal of the digital publication.

“I typically think about it in two perspectives,” Roach says. “Do you like reading a book or do you like reading an e-book? It’s almost like a novelty right now to pick up a newspaper and flip through it.”

The pressure to move away from print is not only felt on District campuses. According to the Washington Post, student newspapers at Syracuse University, the University of Nebraska, Columbia University, and Cornell University have also transitioned away from printing. The trend mirrors a larger decline in print-readership across all U.S. newspapers—according to Pew data, weekday circulation among U.S. daily newspapers fell 27 percent between 2000 and 2014.

Mi-Ai Parrish, a Sue Clark Johnson Professor of Media Innovation and Leadership at Arizona State University, served as the editor-in-chief of The Diamondback in 1992, when the newspaper published a print edition daily.

Parrish says that news is news, regardless of the platform it’s consumed on, and that a decline in print does not mean a decline in readers.

“I’m agnostic about how people get the news,” Parish tells DCist. “I’m focused on how people get the journalism. Whether you get that through ink on paper or pixels on screens, I just want you to get the news.”

While the future of The Hilltop weekly printing remains unclear, the publication continues to upload stories to its website and social media platforms.

This story has been updated to clarify how long The Eagle has been publishing one issue per semester, and with the correct spelling of Jane Hall’s name.