It’s at times like these, when passions are running high on the issues of the day, that everybody feels pressured to take sides. But what if you don’t want to, or due to circumstances, cannot?
That is the reality for student journalists covering the protests that are sweeping campuses across the country. They have to try and remain objective about the events they are witnessing close at hand.
Their dilemma is made especially difficult because they probably know many of the protesters personally — on all sides of the issues. In fact, their nascent career demands that they seek out voices on all sides of any issue they cover.
Furthermore, by today’s journalistic standards, they should never participate in a demonstration themselves if they want to be able to cover it as a journalist in the future. And, of course, the “future” could be five minutes from now.
In addition, they are expected to suspend and suppress any feelings or experiences they or their family or friends have had personally that informs their thinking on an issue.
And in an era when so much emphasis has been placed on one’s identity — whether by race or gender or national origin or sexual orientation or religion or the color of one’s skin — they are expected to put all that aside too.
When you think about it, all of these demands make being a student journalist pretty unattractive. So what advice, if any, do I, as a former professor, have for these young reporters?
Welcome to journalism! We need you more than ever.
HEADLINES:
CJS Student Journalists Reporting on the 2024 Campus Protests (Columbia)
Tension between protesters, police continues on campuses across U.S. (WP)
Police and pro-Palestinian demonstrators clash in tense scene at UCLA encampment (AP)
Hundreds of Protesters Arrested as Universities Blame Outsiders for Escalating Violence (WSJ)
College protest live updates: Nearly 300 arrested at Columbia and CUNY, UCLA cancels classes, as campus demonstrations intensify (Yahoo)
Colombia will break relations with Israel over its actions in Gaza, Petro says (NPR)
Biden left without an easy solution as campus protests heat up (CNN)
A Bystander to ’60s Protests, Biden Now Becomes a Target (NYT)
House Republicans launch an investigation into federal funding for universities amid campus protests (AP)
Marjorie Taylor Greene to force vote on ousting Mike Johnson as speaker (Guardian)
United Methodists repeal longstanding ban on LGBTQ clergy (AP)
Arizona Legislature repeals 1864 abortion ban after two GOP senators rebel (The Hill)
Christian conservatives wrestle with shifting GOP stance on Arizona abortion ban (NPR)
WGA Strike: One Year Later, Writers Face a Different Sort of Crisis (Variety)
How AI is testing the boundaries of human intelligence (BBC)
AI video throwdown: OpenAI’s Sora vs. Runway and Pika (Ars Technica)
Microsoft taps Sanctuary AI for general-purpose robot research (TechCrunch)
National Park Visitors Treated To Majestic Sight Of Crow Eating Napkin (The Onion)
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