What with the election hubbub, one might have overlooked a couple of disturbing developments this week related to two of the state’s newspapers.

The Santa Fe New Mexican on Tuesday offered voluntary buyouts to some employees in an effort to further reduce the size of its work force.

Mid-column in a group of brief articles published Wednesday, publisher Robin Martin said the goal is to reduce company-wide employment by about 10 people. The brief article said:

“Management is committed to taking every step possible to ensure that The New Mexican is carefully steered through these troubled times so that the business is well positioned for an economic recovery,” Martin told employees in a letter.

Earlier this year, Martin cited a steep decline in advertising revenue, especially in real-estate and automobile sales — as well as rising newsprint costs — for the elimination of some 18 positions, including some layoffs.

The article said Martin hopes that further layoffs can be avoided and that the New Mexican has expanded its online news coverage, has signed a printing contract for The New York Times and is pursuing more commercial printing.

“These actions have been taken with a view on the future and to generate revenue for the business and to fulfill our mission of community journalism,” Martin told employees.

The other event involved the New Mexico Daily Lobo, the student newspaper at the University of New Mexico.

The Lobo reported on Tuesday that UNM had taken $50,000 from the publication’s reserves and distributed the money to university programs that were running deficits. When Jim Fisher, associate director of business operations for the Lobo, explained the situation to the UNM Student Publications Board at a meeting last Friday, he said he’s never seen such a seizure:

I think it is the biggest fundamental threat to what we do. … This is serious and I think that if it happened once, then it’s going to happen again.

Members of the board responded by forming a committee to investigate and address the seizure, and the day after the Lobo story appeared, UNM returned the money, according to a story in the Lobo on Wednesday:

President David Schmidly and Vice President David Harris decided to return $150,000 to several organizations they had taken funds from, including the Lobo and groups in the (Student Union Building), according to a UNM news release.

Schmidly was not aware the Lobo’s money had been taken, according to the release.

Just the day before, Harris had been quoted in the Lobo as saying: “I know that there are a lot of people at UNM who practice whining… but, you know, when you have to balance your budget, that’s where the rubber hits the road. I mean, it’s unfortunate if somebody says that they had money transferred to cover someone else’s shortfall, but, I mean, we are a university.”

At the same time, Cheo Torres, vice president of student affairs, had told Lobo reporter Maggie Ybarra that if the Daily Lobo were to get in financial trouble at some point, it could appeal to the Office of Student Affairs for financial help.

And therein lies the problem.

If the Lobo were to take money from the university, it would compromise the newspaper’s independence and UNM would have some control over the newspaper’s content, which is exactly what concerned Lobo board members.

In Wednesday’s story, Fisher said the return of the $50,000 reaffirms the Lobo’s independence from UNM.

“That money is an insurance of our editorial freedom, and that is the bottom line,” Fisher said. “Without (the money), it’s in jeopardy.”

The Lobo also said that according to UNM’s official news release, the university administration never intended to threaten the Lobo’s editorial freedom or impact groups that serve students.

The Lobo quoted the release as saying about $300,000 was collected over the summer from financial reserves and surpluses on campus and redistributed “to help cover deficits in enterprise areas of the University.”

The Lobo quoted Torres as saying Schmidly was gracious to return the Lobo’s money.

“President Schmidly reversed the decision and said, ‘Look, some of the programs that directly affect students — we’re going to give the money back,’” Torres said. “So, it’s wonderful. They’re going to get (funds for the deficits) from somewhere else.”

However, the Lobo also quoted Torres as saying that while he would consider revising UNM’s policy on making financial decisions, eliminating deficits is still a priority and the university still has the right to seize surpluses on campus.

UNM spokeswoman Susan McKinsey told the Lobo it made better financial sense to balance deficits with money from organizations with surpluses than to tap the university’s reserves.

Fisher said the Daily Lobo needs to maintain a surplus so that it can operate during tough economic times.

“Basically, it ensures that students have the same opportunities in a bad financial year as they did during a good financial year,” Fisher said.

Which is a prudent stance, considering that many college newspapers, unlike the Lobo, are having a bad financial year.

According to an article last month in Inside Higher Ed, student newspapers are suffering the same economic stresses experienced by commercial papers, with some curtailing print operations while maintaining an online presence. The article also addresses the catch-22 student newspapers face in terms of accepting financial help from their host universities:

By and large, most student newspapers receive some financial support from their colleges and universities.

Some of the most respected student newspapers in the country, however, have independent status. Such independence is meant to ensure impartial news coverage, but it also means the paper won’t be bailed out by the university if times get tough.

Unfortunately for the independents, those supported by their universities are more likely to do well, according to one expert:

“I certainly think it stands to reason that student newspapers that are supported through student fees … or through some sort of subsidy are probably more resilient to economic downturns,” said Logan Aimone, president of the Associated Collegiate Press, which works to improve student media and steer students toward careers in journalism.