Ball State's award-winning NewsLink Indiana will end this spring as the money provided by the Lilly Endowment's iCommunications grant runs out.
Michael Holmes, interim dean of the College of Communication, Information and Media, said the announcement was no surprise, but it's a disappointment all the same.
"We always knew that if we were not able to find temporary funding we could lose NewsLink Indiana," Holmes said. "It depends on a professional staff supported by the grant money."
Terry Heifetz, managing editor of convergence news for NewsLink Indiana, said the loss of the program will hurt everyone.
"While it's sad for us, I feel even worse for the students," Heifetz said. "They won't have these opportunities anymore. Several other faculty members hired by the grant may also disappear."
Heifetz's last day is June 30 along with NewsLink Indiana's Wright Bryan, web news editor; Christine Bavender, anchor and Tim Underhill, production manager of local news.
Holmes said the college hired 14 faculty members with the money from the $20 million grant and not all of them will be hired next semester.
The Office of the Provost is assisting the department with its transition out of the iCommunications grant, Holmes said.
"They've given us three new tenure lines to continue the curricula we developed under the grant." Holmes said. "The college will come out of the grant with a net gain: new facilities, a new digital media minor and the Center for Media Design. NewsLink@9 will continue to operate as normal next semester."
Nancy Carlson, chair of the telecommunications department, said the department originally planned for a fifth professional at NewsLink Indiana who would oversee finances and marketing. The position, however, never materialized.
"It all came down to money," Carlson said. "The fifth person was meant to take care of the business end of NewsLink. They could have had the expertise to keep NewsLink Indiana alive and sustainable, but there wasn't enough money."
Contrary to the Muncie Star Press headline on Monday, Carlson said the university did not "pull the plug" on NewsLink Indiana.
"NewsLink is not over," Carlson said. "We are bound and determined to find a new way to deliver the news and give students this opportunity. I doubt seriously if it dies; it was too much of a national model of educating broadcast students to just let it go. We're just planning for the next phase and a new shape of NewsLink."
Carlson said she did not know what the new shape would be, but discussions have begun in the telecommunications department of plans for the new NewsLink.
Holmes said that while it might seem that the department will lose much from the end of the grant money, it's important to remember the accomplishments that have come from the use of the money.
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