On May 7, NYPD and Columbia University’s Public Safety team infringed upon the fundamental right to freedom of the press, restricting reporters’ ability to cover a protest that was unfolding on Columbia’s campus. The reporters impacted included ones from Columbia Daily Spectator, an independent student-run publication like The Chronicle.
Spectator released a statement alleging repeated instances of NYPD and Public Safety officers using force against student reporters and obstructing their ability to fully cover the protest.
The Spectator detailed the following violations:
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A Spectator photographer was unintentionally caught in a crowd rush and was restrained and effectively choked by a Public Safety officer despite holding up a press pass.
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A senior NYPD officer threatened to revoke a Spectator videographer’s city-issued press card after they asked an NYPD officer if three Spectator reporters on the other side of the barricade could enter, even though NYPD does not have the power to seize or revoke a press card.
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NYPD and Public Safety officers explicitly blocked student press from entering areas where the protest was taking place.
Less than a day after the protest, Spectator reported that Barnard College and Columbia had placed student journalists under interim suspension citing that they had participated in the Butler library takeover.
Each reporter had published bylines before the suspensions and had identified themselves as members of the press to Public Safety officers during the protest.
While these suspensions were eventually lifted, Columbia and Barnard wrote in their emails to the student journalists that the institutions reserve the right to take future actions against them for the same demonstration.
Student journalists were not specifically targeted in these instances, but rather “It appears these officers responded indiscriminately toward anyone in their path,” Spectator says.
Such actions, however, set a dangerous precedent for the freedom of student press. Press — the only profession explicitly named under the first amendment — has an obligation to seek and report the truth. University administrators must protect and must not infringe upon the student press, even as their reporters uncover truths that run contrary to the administration’s goals.
The attacks at Columbia were not the only instance threatening the student press.
On March 27, Rümeysa Öztürk, a doctoral student at Tufts University, was detained by plainclothes immigration officers and had her visa revoked. According to Ozturk’s friends and colleagues, her only known activism was co-authoring an op-ed in Tufts’ student newspaper — The Tufts Daily. Öztürk has since been released from detention, but her case remains a chilling reminder of the risks the student press may face.
Student news organizations cannot afford to cave to fear and self-censorship; doing so undermines their credibility, weakens their watchdog role and sets a dangerous precedent for journalistic independence.
But censorship of student journalism does not always take overt or violent forms; it can also manifest as institutional opacity and the suppression of public records. In November 2024, the Kentucky Kernel sued the University of Kentucky, and ultimately won, after the institution refused to release documents related to an alleged on-campus sexual assault. The case underscored the chilling effect such withholding can have on investigative reporting and press accountability.
At a time of uncertainty and federal change, we must be exceptionally clear: The Daily Emerald condemns all attacks on student press freedom, and all First Amendment violations, in the strongest possible terms.
The Daily Emerald joins Spectator in demanding the following:
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For Columbia to publicly acknowledge the harm caused by Public Safety officers and the NYPD at the Butler Library protest.
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Columbia and Barnard to issue apologies to every student suspended for a protest they did not participate in.
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For Columbia’s president Shipman to sit for an interview with the Spectator.
