Alexandria Wilson
CONTRIBUTOR
News hounds and leisure readers alike are invited to participate in the Gateway’s inaugural 5K fun run, “Run the Press.”
The event will be held on April 14. Registration costs $25 for adults, $10 for children between the ages of 5 to 11 and is free for children under 5. A free t-shirt is included with registration, which can be completed on OrgSYNC, Manager of Student Publications Josie Loza said.
Those who sign up for the 5K are by no means obligated to run. In fact, Loza said the Gateway is referring to the 5K as a “run/walk/crawl” and that people of all athletic abilities are welcome to participate.
The idea to host the event came out of a brainstorming session, Loza said. Gateway staff, like Advertising Manager Megan Wade, wanted to find a way to generate revenue outside of the traditional method of selling ads. The revenue is needed to help keep the organization running.
“We are campaigning for these donations and sponsorship opportunities because the Gateway helps students gain that newsroom experience in the field of communications, public relations and photography,” Loza said.
Those who are interested in helping the Gateway’s efforts but are unable to get involved in the run still have options. T-shirts for the event can be purchased after pre-registration closes at the end of March, and those profits will go back to the paper. Free-will donations are accepted as well, Loza said.
Traditionally, print media is funded by ads purchased by businesses. Director of the UNO School of Communication Hugh Reilly remembers when he was on staff at the Gateway in the mid-1970s. Advertisements made up 50 to 60 percent of the issues.
The mediums in which people consume their news has shifted, and so have the ways companies choose to advertise, Reilly said. Finding a way to monetize the online medium is one route papers can take to gain funding. Reilly also suggests trying new things to bring funding into the newsroom, such as the Gateway’s fun run.
“I think this run is a good idea,” Reilly said. “You’ve got to be creative because the traditional methods simply aren’t working as well.”
While traditional funding methods are going away, Reilly doesn’t believe print media is going anywhere.
“Like every medium before it, it will evolve,” Reilly said.
Wade said the 5K will also keep Gateway alumni involved with UNO and the paper’s current staff.
“We have a very large group of alumni at the Gateway, and we always try to keep the current staff in contact with them,” Wade said. “This fun run will allow the staff and alumni to interact with the entire community and promote journalism as a whole.”
Gateway alumni have benefited from the 105-year-old paper’s rich history at UNO. Fundraisers like “Run the Press” will help ensure the tradition stands for many more generations of students.
