By Kevin Sears
Disclaimer: Kevin Sears is a staff writer and incoming social media manager for Baron Banner.
Writer’s Note: While writing this article, I tried to minimize my own personal interests and conflicts of interest by adhering to the code of journalistic ethics while conducting this audit.
Fountain Valley High School’s (FVHS) student-operated print and digital newspaper publication, Baron Banner, is available digitally at baronnews.com and in print as a bi-monthly newspaper. Additionally, this journalism class produces an annual publication known as “RED Magazine,” featuring the students of FVHS.
Baronnews.com hosts the work of FVHS’ journalism program, which includes Baron Banner and Baron Broadcast News (BBN). BBN is the digital video production component of Baron News; their bi-monthly news broadcast airs every other Monday during Barons All Together time. On baronnews.com, BBN publishes its videos alongside articles from Baron Banner.
Where does Baron Banner receive its funding?
Baron Banner traditionally funds its publication through three main sources: contributions from the FVHS Associated Student Body (ASB), Title I funds and revenue from paid advertising.
ASB, as per California law, is a student organization that works to raise and spend money on behalf of students.
“Baron Banner receives money from ASB. ASB gives us [money] because we serve the whole school,” Baron Banner and BBN advisor Sean Ziebarth said.
Unlike the fixed budget provided by ASB, Baron Banner does not receive a predetermined amount from Title I funding. Instead, at the start of the year, Ziebarth submits four job tickets to the Huntington Beach Unified School District (HBUHSD) to cover the expenses for four newspaper cycles. Baron Banner publishes its newspaper bi-monthly, with issues released in October, January, March and June, submitting a job ticket for each edition of the print newspaper.
Authorized by the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 and further amended by the Every Student Succeeds Act, Title I is a federally funded program that works to provide financial assistance to schools with at least 40% of students identified as low-income. Nationwide, Title I provides more than $14 billion annually and in 2022, FVHS was eligible for $500,000.
In the past, Baron Banner has relied on donations, paid subscriptions and advertisements in order to fund the program; however, Baron Banner often struggles to find advertisers.
“[A] few years ago, we lost one of our big advertisers [Elite Prep]. And that’s an area that we need to do better in by reaching out to the community and advertising, but advertising is tough,” Ziebarth said.
Unless an advertiser reaches out, Baron Banner proactively assigns its students to visit local businesses and inquire if they are interested in becoming advertisers.
“[Baron Banner] currently [has] zero [advertisers]. Part of the reason [for this] is because we have these other sources of funding. That [has] definitely helped, so we don’t have much need for advertising,” Ziebarth said.
Baron Banner currently has two subscribers who pay $25 per year. By subscribing, they are mailed each edition of the newspaper through USPS.
On baronnews.com, Baron Banner currently lists two sponsors: Del Taco and the Baron Academic Foundation (BAF). However, Del Taco is currently the sole sponsor, and although the BAF is still mentioned on the site, BAF is no longer a paid sponsor. Baron Banner has chosen to keep the BAF on the site because of the good relationship between the two programs. BAF is a non-profit, charitable booster organization that fundraises to contribute to FVHS’s learning environment through scholarships and donations.
Although Del Taco is a sponsor of Baron Banner, Del Taco does not pay Baron Banner any money for its sponsorship. Instead, Del Taco provides Baron Banner with $10 food vouchers, which Baron Banner includes in their crossword puzzle. However, the ownership of the Del Taco Franchise Baron Banner receives its vouchers from has recently undergone a change in ownership; therefore, it is possible that the sponsorship may not continue.
In the past, Baron Banner has conducted fundraisers, including setting up bingo events for FVHS Bingo. FVHS Bingo is an organization of FVHS parents who volunteer each Thursday to run bingo nights. This event, which is held in the cafeteria, features bingo games catered mostly for the elderly. Before bingo occurs, volunteers from Baron Banner help to set up and assist the players by pushing wheelchairs from the parking lot to the cafeteria. Baron Banner receives a flat $80 payment for set up and $40 for assisting the players.
This year, bingo raised $120, and donations contributed an additional $300 to Baron Banner.
“One of our goals for next year is increasing advertising and doing a better job reaching out to the community,” Ziebarth said.
What are Baron Banner’s expenses?
“We really don’t need a lot of money to run [Baron Banner]. [Baron Banner] just needs money to print the newspaper … and to keep our website going.” Ziebarth said.
The main expenses of Baron Banner include the cost of printing the newspaper and RED Magazine, website upkeep and equipment such as cameras and SD cards. The class prints its newspaper through Gardena Valley Print, a local printing company that offers cold-set web printing.
For each newspaper cycle, Baron Banner orders 1000 copies, which is the fewest that can be ordered at once. Baron Banner pays a total of $682.76. When broken down into its parts, $220.00 is spent for the 1000 copies themselves, $69.80 for the paper, $250 for the occasional use of color and $57.96 for a paper surcharge.
The paper surcharge began during COVID-19 when there was a paper shortage.
The $682.76 is the typical cost for each newspaper cycle; therefore, Baron Banner spends roughly $2,731.04 per year on printing its newspapers.
If Baron Banner runs low on funds or if Title I funding is unavailable, it will omit the use of color from its newspaper to save money.
The RED Magazine is Baron Banner’s annual publication that showcases stories from students, staff and sometimes alumni, celebrating the talents and achievements of notable individuals within our community. Unlike Baron Banner’s regular newspaper, the RED Magazine features full-color printing, including graphics and images, on magazine paper.
The total cost for the RED Magazine printed from the HBUHSD District Print Facility is roughly $305.14 a year.
Although Baron Banner publishes its articles at baronnews.com, Baron Banner shares the ownership and cost of maintaining the website with Baron Banner’s sister class, BBN.
For a two-year subscription, it costs $335.76 to host baronnews.com on Bluehost.com.
“Typically I [will have] Baron Banner pay for one [two-year subscription] of baronnews.com and then BBN will pay for it the next round. So they both share the cost,” Ziebarth said.
Considering that Baron Banner pays the fee for website maintenance every other two years and it costs $335.76 for a two-year subscription, Baron Banner pays roughly $83.94 a year for website upkeep. A few years ago, Baron Banner paid a flat fee of roughly $70 for the website design on WordPress.
Baron Banner does not currently use Title I funding to cover the cost of baronnews.com; however, due to the observations of this audit, Baron Banner may begin to use Title I funding to pay for baronnews.com in the future.
Combining all of Baron Banner’s basic expenses, which include $2,731.04 per year for the newspaper, $305.14 for the RED Magazine and $83.94 for website upkeep, Baron Banner spends approximately $3,120.12 per year in order to print and publish articles.
Similar to the website, Baron Banner and BBN often share equipment such as cameras and SD cards.
“Baron Banner does have specific cameras and sometimes those get lent out to BBN and sometimes BBN equipment gets lent out to Baron Banner. I consider them one journalism program,” Ziebarth said.
Baron Banner currently has two cameras and purchases new camera equipment whenever additional money is available. A new camera was purchased last year.
Every year, Baron Banner competes in the Orange County Journalism Education Association (OCJEA), which is a competition where participants are given a limited amount of time to excel in various categories: photography, yearbook design, broadcast recording and newspaper article writing. This year, Baron Banner subsidized part of the entry cost for its students, spending a total of $320 on registration fees.
Ziebarth sometimes uses his own personal income to pay for transportation to OCJEA or other events for the students.
How much money does Baron Banner have now?
Baron Banner manages its finances through two distinct accounts: the club account and the ASB account. Funds in the club account, accumulated from previous years, roll over annually, preserving Baron Banner’s savings.
In contrast, the money allocated by ASB each year does not carry over; it must be spent within the fiscal year. If Baron Banner does not utilize the entire account, any unspent funds revert back to ASB, incentivizing Baron Banner to fully utilize this account annually.
According to a club account statement provided by Ziebarth, Baron Banner currently has $950.28 in savings.
Combining all regular income and expenses into a single table.
The funding provided by ASB within this audit was chosen to be omitted by the writer. Baron Banner utilizes the funding provided by ASB in order to provide a better scholastic and journalistic environment for the students of Baron Banner. This may include the cost of cameras, OCJEA and other Baron Banner activities.
Along with Baron Banner’s irregular income and expenses.
Baron Banner generates $1,050 in regular revenue annually and incurs a regular expenditure of $3,120.12 per year. Out of these expenses, $3,036.18 is covered by Title I funding, leaving Baron Banner with a current regular expense of $83.94. If Baron Banner successfully applies the baronnews.com maintenance costs to Title I funding, it will reduce the regular expenses to $0.
Although Baron Banner does incur additional expenses, these are not regular expenses required for printing the newspaper and maintaining the website.
Conclusion
The continual funding of Baron Banner varies based its annual income. Baron Banner relies heavily upon Title I funding; therefore, under the unforeseen circumstance that Baron Banner is no longer able to apply for Title I funding, it will need to seek alternative sources.
However, looking ahead, the situation of Baron Banner is unlikely to change. For many years, Baron Banner has successfully fulfilled its mission to inform the community through its newspaper and online articles. Baron Banner is likely to continue this success into the future.
