Fresno State students reject free New York Times subscriptions, citing news coverage

Liliana Fannin, The Fresno Bee on Feb 24, 2026

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FRESNO, Calif. — Fresno State’s student government body rejected a proposal last week that would have provided students with a free digital subscription to the New York Times after some student officials questioned the paper’s news coverage.

Associated Students Inc., or ASI, considered a proposal at its Feb. 18 meeting that would have funded free Times subscriptions for students at a cost of $15,705 to the student government. The motion failed in a majority vote after a 30-minute debate.

Student official Alya Hassan, who voted against the proposal, said the news organization lacked journalistic integrity for avoiding using words like genocide, ethnic cleansing and occupied territory in its reporting. The Times has received some criticism for restricting use of those words in its news coverage of Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip.

“The New York Times has historically been a little bit problematic and controversial in their reporting and in their journalism,” Hassan said.

News of the rejected proposal was first reported by The Collegian, Fresno State’s student-run newspaper.

Hassan and other student officials also questioned if there was a large student demand.

The proposal was made by student official Sarah Sevy, who said she gathered feedback from students in support of free Times access.

“I had students say ‘oh I love the cooking,’ or ‘oh I love the Wordle,’ or ‘man, that would be really handy when my professor says we have to use this article, and it’s behind a paywall,’” Sevy said.

Todd Halvorsen, a New York Times representative, told ASI members that more than 10 million college students have free access to the Times through student government funding or library partnerships, including Harvard, UC Berkeley, NYU and UC San Diego.

About 25% of students with free access actively use their subscription, Halvorson said. ASI would have been provided with monthly usage reports from The New York Times detailing the number of page views accrued and accounts activated by Fresno State students.

“As far as our editorial process, I have no comment on that, it’s not my side of the business,” Halvorson said. “All I can reflect is, you know, we have 145 Pulitzer prizes. More than any other news organization.”

Fresno State students, faculty and staff currently have free digital access to The Wall Street Journal through a partnership with the Fresno State Library.

Hassan said there didn’t seem to be a great student demand for the free subscriptions to justify the cost.

“If we were to fund this using student fees, we would essentially be endorsing The New York Times editorial positions and their narratives and that’s where my hesitation comes in,” Hassan said.

Sevy said it would only be 67 cents a person in student fees, a much smaller amount than what students would have to pay out of pocket for a subscription, and that access to quality news is a growing need for everyone in the country. She also highlighted other subscription features like Wordle, wellness and cooking content that students would gain access to.

“I don’t feel like it’s irresponsible considering some of the other things we spend student fees on,” Sevy said. “Like, do we need tailgates? We still do them because they are fun and they provide a good quality experience to students on campus.”

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