Jeff Beckham

Two University of Texas media members are featured in this week’s Wall Street Journal story, “Big Media on Campus“, which takes a look at how big companies like Ford, Microsoft and Wal-Mart are placing ads in college papers and how big media companies like Gannett and Viacom are buying papers aimed at college students.

Kathy Lawrence, director of Texas Student Publications, said, “There is a lot of money here. (National advertisers) didn’t recognize for a long time what a valuable asset this is for them.”

The Journal says that UT’s Daily Texan newspaper (with a circulation of 28,000) and accompanying website (10,600 daily users) form “the core of what has evolved into a $2.3 million multimedia operation which also includes radio and TV stations, a humor magazine, and an online search tool for apartments. As Brian Tschoepe, student ad director of Texas Student Media, says in the story, “We’re not just selling a newspaper anymore.”