Student Journalists At Indiana University And Purdue Show More Integrity, Solidarity And Backbone Than Many In The Mainstream Press

from the the-kids-are-alright dept

Last week, Indiana University administrators fired the school newspaper’s (Indiana Daily Student) advisor and ordered students to stop printing the paper.

The student journalists say that University administrators didn’t like the student paper’s decision to increasingly criticize University President Pamela Whitten’s decision to coddle the authoritarian Trump administration, or, at best, remain silent as the Trump administration and state leaders take direct aim at free expression, the First Amendment, and any curriculum teaching about race or gender discrimination.

Enter students at the Purdue student paper, The Exponent, who stepped up and traveled two hours from West Lafayette to Bloomington to help Indiana University students deliver a physical paper to local students anyway:

“We have the benefit of being fully independent of the university. We own our own press,” said Kyle Charters, publisher and news adviser for the Exponent. “We were more than willing, with our extra freedom being an independent student organization, to help out.”

“Both our publications have had their run-ins with their respective universities this summer and fall,“ Charters said. “While we’re pretty significant rivals — and while I might not be rooting for their football team tomorrow — we do have something in common, and we’re happy to have that camaraderie.“

It’s the exact sort of resistance and solidarity we’re not seeing in most major U.S. media outlets, which have, by and large, folded to the pressures of authoritarianism at the hands of consolidated billionaire ownership:

Earlier this year Republican state leaders in Indiana passed a sweeping new legislative package designed to undermine civil rights and free speech protections across college campuses. As usual, this was portrayed as some sort of serious efficiency improvement, but like all MAGA attacks on academia, it was really about silencing criticism of right wing ideology and crushing civil rights reforms.

Indiana University administrators seem to be taking a similar approach to authoritarianism as many in traditional media, academia, and corporate America; namely operating under the belief that if you hide your tail between your legs and bury your head in the sand that this storm will somehow pass you by.

Not only does that generally not happen, but the destruction of free speech, democracy, justice, and academic rigor while you slept is not always something that can be fixed after the storm has passed; something you can ask countless global survivors of authoritarianism about.

Indiana University officials are trying to pretend that their silencing of the student paper’s print edition is simply an act of modernization; but local student journalists and editors at both universities say they’ve faced relentless pressure to eliminate any criticism of the Trump administration or the cowards that are making Trumpism so effective at destroying civil rights, free speech, and the rule of law.

Like many broader mainstream media outlets, what academic administrators want is a sort of pseudo-news that’s devoid of anything that might upset anyone (think of a Ken Doll with all the important bits sanded off to a smooth hump). A sort of feckless simulacrum of journalism that focuses on “safe” issues that, most importantly, don’t upset right wing Americans:

“According to an Oct. 7 email the IndyStar obtained, Rodenbush passed on guidance from the Media School administration that the IDS’s print publication should solely focus on a special theme, such as homecoming or fall sports, and contain “no other news at all, and particularly no traditional front page news coverage.”

“Let’s pretend reality doesn’t exist so nobody with wealth or power gets upset” is no way to go through life. The student resistance to this is a refreshing act of courage and solidarity. Especially in comparison to the broader traditional U.S. journalism industry, which is increasingly being hollowed out by right wing billionaire zealots looking to silent criticism of corporate, billionaire, and authoritarian power.

Filed Under: free speech, indiana daily student, journalism, media, Purdue Exponent, student newspaper

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