 It has taken a lot for the staff at the Daily Free Press, Boston University's independent student newspaper, to start smiling again. In the past year, the paper has had to confront its rising debt, accumulated mainly from a decrease in print advertising revenue. We did announce in May that we would cut from four days a week to one day a week on the digital first, you know, Monday through Friday. The new online business model cut the paper's costs, nearly 80%, but that wasn't enough. By early November, its total debt rose to just under $68,000. That's when we got the, you know, the call from Trillie that we needed to pay back a significant portion of our debt to them by the end of the year or else we wouldn't be able to print anymore. With the help of online crowdsourcing, the Daily Free Press was able to pay back all of its debt. However, other student publications in the area haven't been as lucky. Emanuel College's paper, The Hub, recently seized its print publication altogether. Because of the money, we couldn't afford to print every week, let alone every day. The Hub, which relies on funds from its school, also lost its campus office and now its headquartered in a classroom in the school's administrative building. Even the New York Times has experienced financial stress. In October, company officials announced plans to cut 100 newsroom jobs to make room for more digital products. I think the key is to be able to operate in a multi-platform world, but at the same time to be developing and involving and evolving the news report online. Which is something publications are still trying to figure out. Reporting for the BU News Service, I'm Brandon Lewis.