A local magazine staff is reaching out to readers after an 86-percent budget cut last month, jeopardized its future.
The Fine Print, a student-run social advocacy publication based in Gainesville, is struggling to stay in print after its largest benefactor, Generation Progress, drastically cut the $5,000 grant it annually provides the magazine to $700.
"I wake up to this email that says your grant results are in, and it starts with an apology," said Samantha Schuyler, an editor at The Fine Print. "And I was like, ‘This isn’t good.’"
Generation Progress, a nonprofit that supports student activists and journalists, made the $4,300 reduction about a week before The Fine Print’s staff planned on starting the newest issue, each of which typically costs about $1,100.
"With what they were giving us, we wouldn’t have been able to print one issue," Schuyler said.
Funds were reduced due to budget cuts within Generation Progress, and although The Fine Print still received one of the higher grants available, it wasn’t enough to continue printing magazines, Schuyler said.
To make up for the loss, editors at The Fine Print decided to start up a crowdfunding campaign on Indiegogo, an online donation website similar to Kickstarter.
The fundraiser, Keep The Fine Print in Print, has generated, as of press time, $3,355 of its $4,300 goal.
In addition to the online campaign, the magazine hosted a gallery of student art two weeks ago and raised more than $650 by charging an entrance fee of $5.
The response has been encouraging, said Damian Gonzalez, an editor at The Fine Print.
"It’s amazing," Gonzalez said. "It’s really reassuring to know that there is a community of people here in Gainesville that actually care about The Fine Print, care about Gainesville and care about Alachua enough to keep The Fine Print in print."
While The Fine Print does publish online content, Gonzalez said the staff stands by the importance of keeping the magazine available in print.
"What’s really important is that people in Gainesville have something tangible to access," he said, "something that they can pick up when they’re walking to class, something they can pick up when they’re walking to work … and just read," he said.
The campaign ends in less than two weeks.
For more information or to make a donation, visit their Indiegogo page Keep the Fine Print In Print.
