There are not a lot of journalism programs or news outlets anymore devoted only to print–newspapers you can hold in your hands.  Declining revenues are taking a toll on the newspaper business.

Indiana University’s 150-year-old Indiana Daily Student is one of many media outlets that has moved much of their emphasis online in an attempt to remain relevant to a media-savvy demographic. The student-focused newspaper has been forced to make changes in order to survive and the most recent one of those changes is in leadership.

Jim Rodenbush is the new Director of Student Media, which means he is in charge of the IDS, Arbutus yearbook and all things student media. He said his job has many challenges, including how to continue transitioning towards a digital platform and fully embrace the decision to only print twice a week –a process that began in 2017.

Another factor to consider is how Rodenbush’s predecessor Ron Johnson left.

Johnson left the IDS in 2017 amidst tension between the staff and IU’s Media School. Then editor-in-chief Jamie Zega published a letter in the paper advocating continued editorial independence from IU.

“I’ve exchanged messages with my predecessor, but once,” Rodenbush said. “I said something, he said something and that’s been it so far.”

 Rodenbush said it’s not his first time taking over a transitional job. He didn’t comment on concerns of editorial independence that circulated after Johnson’s exit.

 Rodenbush says his past experience in student media will help him the job. Rodenbush has worked in student media for 8 years–most recently at Colorado State, before that, at Penn State. He worked as a student media adviser to the Penn State Daily Collegian during the child sex abuse scandal involving Jerry Sandusky.

“Working in student media and building those relationships, it takes a while to get that started to build that trust for people to begin to be familiar with you , so you put a lot of work and effort into establishing that.”

Only 2 months into the job, Rodenbush has already begun identifying some goals–including increased revenue and readership. 

“I’ve been doing this a long time and IU doesn’t have to prepare me for anything,” Rodenbush said. “IU hired me because of experience and a track record, and they can expect or they should be comfortable expecting that I can step into this role and get acclimated with little assistance because of the experience that I bring.”