The future of Rutgers University’s independent student newspaper is in question after losing all of its funding from student fees, the primary source of revenue for the 150-year-old The Daily Targum.

Not enough students voted to continue supporting an $11.25 per-semester student fee in a recent campus referendum, gutting the paper of its largest and most reliable source of revenue, the paper announced on Monday night.

“It’s kind of up in the air right now," Sandy Giacobbe, The Daily Targum’s business manager, said of the future. “The Targum is in uncharted territory.”

Giacobbe, a junior, wouldn’t say what percentage of total revenue will be lost or speculate about whether the paper may reduce its current five-day print schedule.

The failed referendum is the the first complete loss of student fee funding since the paper became independent of the university in 1980, he said.

In a statement, The Daily Targum pledged to continue serving the Rutgers community.

“We do not know what the future holds, but the Targum Publishing Company’s Board of Trustees and staff will be working to address this funding crisis,” the paper tweeted.

Campus officials will be reaching out to the paper to see if Rutgers can take steps to support it, according to the university.

“Rutgers-New Brunswick values a free press as an important voice in the university community and is disheartened to learn of the referendum results,” the university said in a statement.

The paper began printing at Rutgers in 1869 and has been a training ground for thousands of professional journalists ever since. But many independent college newspapers, like media companies, have struggled to stay afloat amid declining print circulation and advertising revenue, leading them to scale back print operations and focus on their websites.

Some college papers have recently turned to students fees as a solution, asking the student body to vote to approve new fees to support campus journalism.

Rutgers’ student paper has long relied on those fees and asks students to reaffirm their support through a referendum every three years. Students in each school at Rutgers’ New Brunswick campus are asked to vote, and the paper needs at least 25 percent of students to support the fee for the university to keep charging students in a particular school.

Students can later opt-out of the fee and get a refund at the start of the following school year, Giacobbe said.

The paper already lost about 14 percent of its funding in 2016 when the referendum failed among three schools at Rutgers. This year, the vote failed in every school (the paper did not reveal the specific vote counts).

Giacobbe pointed to voter apathy, saying close to 70 percent of students didn’t participate in the referendum.

The paper will consider new ways to reach students and make sure it’s covering stories that are relevant to the campus, he said.

“The referendum results are definitely a setback,” he said.

Adam Clark may be reached at adam_clark@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on twitter at @realAdamClark. Find NJ.com on Facebook.

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