Across the country, college media is facing censorship, funding cuts and university pushback. In September 2024, Pennsylvania State University removed the newsstands of its college newspaper, The Daily Collegian. In June, Purdue University announced it was distancing itself from its student newspaper, The Purdue Exponent, by not allowing them into buildings to fill newsstands. On Oct. 15, Indiana University cut the print editions of its student newspaper, The Indiana Daily Student, and fired the director of student media.
With the recent attacks on student media, The Daily Emerald sat down with University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication Professor Lori Shontz and Marie McMullan, student press legal associate for campus advocacy from the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression to discuss the rising threats to student media and the future of student journalism on college campuses.
What role does student media play on a university campus?
Student media is so important to every college campus. Universities need to be held accountable just like every other major institution in our
country and student media is best positioned to do that because they understand the campus, they understand what is happening, they have access to sources beyond officials, beyond public relations professionals and it is vitally important.
It is also vitally important for people to see themselves in the news media that they consume and student media is particularly well positioned to reflect student life back to students in a way that professional media, community media from outside the university, is able to do less well.
What was your initial reaction to the situation at the Indiana Daily Student?
I was appalled. The law is clear: there should be no interference from the university at an independent student publication. It’s appalling, the fact that someone who is in charge of a media school would think it is a good idea to tell the news advisor ‘yeah, we’re not going to print this in there.’
It’s very important too that (Director) Jim Rodenbush did the right thing, and I know Jim, he worked at Penn State when I was there, he knows the law, he knows the responsibilities and he said right away, from the news coverage I’ve read, that this is a First Amendment issue. He said it immediately, clearly, right away. The fact that the administration at Indiana University didn’t seem to understand or care about that is horrible. Independent media is independent media and it is necessary. There is a movement to stifle student media and it is clear.
There are multiple examples, because research shows that fewer people are consuming print student media, and it is hard to raise money to do this. There are two pressures happening at once – you need to fund journalism, and it’s expensive. Journalism matters and it’s expensive, so figuring out how to pay for that is difficult. Being independent helps with that but it’s also very difficult because it takes a lot of money. You can’t just rely on donations; that doesn’t seem to be working. I get sad every single time an administration moves to censor student media.
This goes back (to) when I was in college; I was the sports administration reporter for The Daily Collegian and I had to write a story because a red pick up truck with blue university license plates took our football gameday issues from the stadium, and I had to write a story about it and call them for comment, you know, ‘why were university trucks removing our gameday magazines, what was happening here?’ There’s nothing new to this, there’s just more of it now. Having people stand up to it, having alumni stand up to it and having other student media stand up for it. Something I’ve been hugely impressed by is the way that student media is working to have each other’s backs. That has been really heartening.
One thing journalism as an industry needs more of overall is solidarity among journalists from different publications, and I think student media is leading the way on that in a way that professionals could learn from.
What was reaction to response from student media organizations across the country and Stanford University’s Amicus Brief?
The amicus brief is important, and the Student Press Law Center does incredible work. They are one of the most valuable organizations out there, they have the expertise, they have the connections and they have the ability to put coalitions together. The number of publications who’ve signed on to the amicus brief shows that journalism matters and that journalists are going to stick up for one another.
I feel like equally important are these (smaller) moments. The Purdue Exponent prints the Indiana Daily Student and helps with the costs,
and those schools are rivals. Equally important is The Emerald writing an editorial in support and Louisville combining with other student news organizations in the area to write editorials. I think the message of solidarity is important and I think that can happen at the big levels like
an amicus brief and at day-to-day levels like that and I am so heartened to see it.
Where are these attacks coming from?
Trust in journalism has been falling for decades and that is the result of a long time campaign to foster distrust in journalism. Journalism makes people uncomfortable and that’s part of its job. It doesn’t have to be every story, it shouldn’t be every story, it shouldn’t be every single piece but part of what journalism does is hold power to account. You can look at history for a long time and power wants to get around that, so we are in a stage where trust in news media is very low and that makes it easier, in some ways, for this to happen right now. I think it’s particularly dangerous because we are at a moment right now where we need good journalism as much or more than we have ever needed it.
What do you see moving forward?
I’m hopeful that this sense of solidarity among student news organizations will grow. I’m hopeful that it will include professional publications as well. I think the industry needs to band together.
I feel like the public doesn’t know what journalism does. We haven’t explained particularly well to the public why we matter and I read a lot of stories about trust continuing to drop, so I put those stories in my classes, we read the research and we go through that. I think the best thing that I can do is be a guide for students going forward. It’s a tricky spot; journalism needs to change in some ways and stick to the values
that have made it important for so long. Being able to navigate a very difficult moment in history requires a lot of flexibility of thought and a very strong ethical commitment, which I work very hard to infuse into all of the classes and it requires a little sense of history, as well as the moment where we are now and how we got there.
I’m working on a book about journalism education with some colleagues across the country and we’re talking a lot about how solidarity matters and how reliance matters, for all journalists, but especially for student media. Fostering a sense of resilience in student media is hugely important right now because it is difficult work. It is highly rewarding work and it is difficult, but trying to prepare students for both sides of that is part of my job.
Fifty-five student publications join amicus brief in support of Stanford Daily
- August 6: The Stanford Daily files a lawsuit against United State Marco Rubio
- Suit claims that the government used two federal laws under the Immigration and Nationality Act to target international students for their participation in student journalism
- This allegedly resulted in students withdrawing bylines or stopping writing all together out of fear of visa revocations or deportation
- 55 student publications from around the country have joined a national amicus brief in support of The Stanford Daily in addition to The Daily Emerald
- The brief is led by the Student Press Law Center and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE)
Information from Foundation of Individual Rights and Expression:
Q&A with Marie McMullan Student Press Legal Associate for Campus Advocacy
Why are student journalists so important?
Student journalists are journalists — full stop. In many regions, they are some of the only sources of news in a community. And on college campuses specifically, they are the ones closest to the ground when it comes to issues affecting students. They are best situated to be watchdogs at a university.
What are the biggest threats to student media and student journalists right now and where are these threats coming from?
Censorship — both in direct and indirect forms — continues to be a significant threat to student journalism. I continue to see students blocked from being able to speak with university sources and colleges using a paper’s content to justify attempts to defund the publication.
What is FIRE doing to help prepare and defend student media organizations?
FIRE is addressing issues affecting student newspapers on various fronts. First, we provide a rapid response to student journalists facing censorship or media law questions with our 24/7 legal hotline. We also try to inform student journalists about the various ways prior reviews and restraints can occur with resources like canipublishthis.com and our regional workshops. And when a matter comes to us, we tailor our efforts to best suit that student journalist or publication — whether it comes in the form of advocacy letters, connecting them with attorneys
in FIRE’s Legal Network, or going on campus to rally student support.
What does the future of student journalism and media look like?
Even though we’ve seen continued attacks on student media, I think the future of student journalism is on a trajectory to cement these student publications as fearless watchdogs on university and college campuses. Student journalists continue to show they are not willing to be silenced when faced with administrative censorship efforts.
