LPM’s Bill Burton spoke with Jai’Michael Anderson, the editor in chief of the Cardinal, about the publication’s future funding.
This transcript was edited for clarity and length.
Bill Burton: The College of Arts and Sciences announced recently that it will be cutting all financial support for the Cardinal starting in the fall of 2026. What were you told about the reasoning for this?
Jai’Michael Anderson: We were told that the College of Arts and Sciences at U of L is restructuring, so they would no longer support the stipend that funds our advisor, Ralph Merkle. I am here with an update. As of Monday of this week, they have decided to keep that stipend for the next year. So as of right now, we are in the same financial situation for 2026.
BB: One of the things that had been tossed out as an idea was a $25 fee for all non-Pell Grant students as a way to fund the Cardinal. There was a meeting about that recently. What can you tell us about that meeting?
JA: The Department of Communications chair Candy Walker and Dr. Nick Paliewicz presented three proposals for our Student Government Association and they were at varying prices for a student fee. We saw a $10 one, an $18 and a $24 fee instead of a $25 one this time. Generally, I think our student representatives are receptive to the idea of funding the Cardinal. There are some hesitations, however, with the reasoning for putting this on students in the first place. Obviously, costs like tuition going up, there was a $200 athletic fee before the beginning of the semester, and I haven't seen anybody happy about that. So we all understand the questioning. There were a lot of questions, a range of them, really, but our takeaway is that we're hopeful and we're willing to work with them. The budget is very flexible, it seems right now. We'll take what we can get.
BB: This is coming on the heels of Indiana University attempting what many said was censorship of its newspaper. Do you feel press freedom at university campuses is being limited?
JA: There is definitely a concern. The Indiana situation was alarming to some of us. The Cardinal had an op-ed published with a few other Kentucky schools and an Indiana School about this. We take that very seriously. And that's the thing with this student fee. We do want to see ownership in the hands of students when we're deciding where the Cardinal can get future funding. Obviously, the university's administration comes into play, but the final call was, we don't want to have an increased risk of that censorship. Say we put out, or we're planning to put out, an article that may make the president look not in as good of a light as he has been. We don't want the option for that censorship to come into play. And I'm not saying that would happen at U of L. I've heard from our administrators that they are very supportive of the Cardinal. Every time I talk to John Karman, the U of L communications vice president, he's applauding us. And every time I hear from my reporters when they talk to U of L President Gerry Bradley, he's applauding us as well. So I don't think the case of censorship at U of L as dooming and impending. Situations can change. We have published articles that probably don't put them in a great light, and I haven't heard any backlash from it and we'd like to keep it that way. Having a student fee will help ensure that.
BB: Is the student fee the way you would like to go? How would you like to see the funding handled?
JA: I agree with the student fee. I think, again, student ownership is the way to go. If we're going to have media that's created by and for us, we should take control of the ownership as well.
BB: That's Jai’Michael Anderson. He is the editor in chief of the Louisville Cardinal. Jai’Michael, thank you so much for your time.
JA: Thank you.
