California's Digital Newspaper Archive Faces Shutdown After State Funding Crisis

The California Digital Newspaper Collection, one of the nation's largest freely accessible archives of historical newspapers, faces an uncertain future as the fiscal year ends June 30 without the emergency funding needed to cover a $300,000 deficit.

The University of California, Riverside project, which preserves over 21 million pages of newspapers dating back to 1846, was blindsided when state officials completely withheld previously approved funding for the current fiscal year.

"UC Riverside's Research Center for Digital Newspaper Collection, housed within its Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research, faces not only the loss of state funding, but also has recently lost foundation and federal (NEH) funding support," said John Warren, senior director of news and content at UC Riverside. "UC Riverside is actively working on a sustainable model for the collection that will allow its archives to continue to be available to the public."

"The annual appropriation from the state is $430,000," Brian Geiger, director of UCR's Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research, told J. Weekly. "We didn't receive any of it this fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2024 to June 30, 2025. UCR has continued to pay expenses, mainly salaries, this entire year," expecting reimbursement.

Established in 2005 with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the California State Library, the CDNC has grown into a major digital resource containing newspapers from throughout the state's history.

Geiger told J. Weekly that if he can't raise at least $300,000 by June 30, the end of the fiscal year, the collection will "almost certainly have to cease operations." If the university doesn't absorb the costs and decides to officially end the project, Geiger would have 60 days to shut down the collection. "I don't think I could close it down in 60 days, not in a way that would leave it in any decent shape," he said.

For researchers like Steve Lech, author of several books on Riverside County history, the potential loss is significant. "Having this available allows us historians access to exponentially more information than our predecessors had, since we can simply search and find where they had to dig through either originals or microfilm reels," Lech said.

The collection preserves irreplaceable historical records including California's first newspaper, "The Californian," and hundreds of publications that no longer exist. While about 75% of the content is available elsewhere, according to Geiger, a quarter of the materials would become completely inaccessible to students, researchers and the public.

Jeannie Kays, director of Palm Springs library services, explained to the Coachella Valley Independent how her institution invested nearly $300,000 in a project called "Accessing the Past" that digitized The Desert Sun archives from 1934 to 1993 and relies on the CDNC for hosting.

"I get people calling me from all over the country, asking for various obituaries and other research. Actually, the reporters from The Desert Sun contact us from time to time, writing stories from the past," Kays told the Independent.

For communities documenting their own histories, the archive provides crucial access. The Jewish News of Northern California (J.) digitized 125 years of archives (167,000 pages) through the CDNC in 2022. Their readers have since discovered family wedding photos, business announcements and community milestones — including an 84-year-old woman who found her bat mitzvah announcement from 1949.

San Francisco State University professor Rachel B. Gross told J. Weekly that her students use these archives for firsthand research on topics like debates around creating San Francisco's Holocaust memorial in the 1970s and '80s. "J.'s archives and other archives are essential historical records that help us understand our shared histories," Gross said.

The Emperor Norton Trust, a San Francisco-based historical organization, described the potential loss as "a death sentence" for historical research on their website, noting they've utilized the CDNC nearly every day for 12 years.

The CDNC's funding structure has always been precarious. According to the Center for Bibliographical Studies and Research's website, while the director's position is funded by the university, "All other positions are funded by grants and endowments. Digitization and metadata creation is funded through grants, public-private partnerships, and contracts with local organizations."

The collection's fate may partly rest with the state legislature. "While the full picture won't come into focus until the May revision, I understand the urgency of this situation," state Sen. John Laird said in a statement to J. Weekly. "As chair of the Senate Budget Subcommittee on Education, I am committed to engaging with the [university] administration on the future [of the CDNC]."

The funding crisis comes amid broader California budget challenges, with the state facing a $12 billion deficit according to recent reports.

If the collection shuts down, its meticulously organized content may be scattered across different platforms or become completely inaccessible. "My guess is that there won't be one CDNC anymore. If we do find other hosting options, it'll probably be data distributed across a number of different platforms," Geiger told the Coachella Valley Independent.

Those wishing to support the preservation of this resource can donate through the fundraising campaign at givecampus.com.