The nation turned its eyes 鈥� and ears 鈥� to Columbia University on Tuesday night.
While pro-Palestinian protests over the war between Israel and Hamas have swept college campuses across the country, Columbia has been a major focus. On Tuesday, more than 100 people were arrested there.
And who had among the best coverage of it all?
The student journalists at Columbia University. That includes the newspaper/website and the radio station , which has been broadcasting pretty much around the clock.
Part of it is because of access. Because they are students, they can be on campus. But a big part of it is because they are good reporters.
On Wednesday, Jelani Cobb, the dean of the Columbia Journalism School, sent a to the faculty, student journalists and the CJS community at Columbia, praising the journalists鈥� work.
Cobb wrote, 鈥淲e believe that journalists have a fundamental right to cover the news. Your efforts turned those sentiments into reality.鈥�
Cobb laid out the timeline of events Tuesday evening and night 鈥� which included police arriving on campus and eventually making arrests 鈥� while pointing out the chaos and difficulty for everyone involved.
He wrote, 鈥溾�� there are few things we can be proud of in this difficult and trying moment. I cannot keep up with the number of people who have emailed, texted or even called to tell me how impressed they are with the work we have done in the past two weeks. It was truly inspiring to see our faculty and our students, shoulder to shoulder, covering a national news story that emerged on our doorstep.鈥�
Cobb addressed the students directly, writing, 鈥淵ou are a part of history now. Your perseverance during a confusing and challenging moment cannot be understated. You told the stories the global public deserved to hear. You helped the School meet its mission.鈥�
And, more importantly, for those following their impressive work, they helped us understand what was going on.
Columbia isn鈥檛 the only place student journalists are leading the coverage. Earlier this week, Teen Vogue鈥檚 Angie Jaime wrote,
As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 400 people have been arrested on college campuses across the country.
Meanwhile 鈥�
There have been reports that some student journalists across the country have been and .
Gary Green 鈥� executive director of The Student Press Law Center, a nonprofit organization that 鈥渁ims to promote, support and defend press freedom rights for student journalists at high schools and colleges in the United States鈥� 鈥� put out a statement Wednesday. He started with, 鈥淎s the nation has seen firsthand this week, student journalists have a unique and essential role on their campuses in observing and disseminating news. It is precisely in times of crisis like these when such coverage is needed the most and student journalists are at their best.鈥�
After mentioning the assaults and threats of arrest, Green wrote, 鈥淪tudent journalists must not be attacked or threatened with arrest or disciplinary action for merely doing their jobs. We urge administrators and law enforcement to work directly with student journalists to ensure they can safely and responsibly report on the historic events unfolding across the country. Now is the time to strengthen our commitment to the student press, not sideline or undermine it.鈥�
Speaking of student protests 鈥�
Demonstrators restore a protective barrier at an encampment on the UCLA campus on Wednesday after clashes between Pro-Israel and Pro-Palestinian groups. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
I wanted to point out this smart piece from The New York Times鈥� Alan Blinder:
The story looks at a confusing topic of interest: Can the right to protest cross a line, and if so, what exactly is that line? And what can and should happen if that so-called line is crossed?
Binder writes, 鈥淧rotesters on college campuses have often cited the First Amendment as shelter for their tactics, whether they were simply waving signs or taking more dramatic steps, like setting up encampments, occupying buildings or chanting slogans that critics say are antisemitic. But many legal scholars, along with university lawyers and administrators, believe at least some of those free-speech assertions muddle, misstate, test or even flout the amendment, which is meant to guard against state suppression.鈥�
Binder then goes into detail about the issues at hand and talks to experts in First Amendment matters. Give it a look.
Nevermind 鈥�
Back in March 2022, then-Washington Post media reporter about his own newspaper: 鈥淪ome internal news: In response to Putin鈥檚 threats against reporters in Russia, the @washingtonpost
will remove bylines and datelines from stories produced by our journalists in Russia. Goal is to ensure staff鈥檚 safety. Been around a while. Never seen anything like this.鈥�
This was, of course, a couple of weeks after Russia鈥檚 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. At the time, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a law targeting journalists for any coverage he deemed unfavorable about the war.
Later in the year, it was learned that Farhi had been suspended by the Post for that tweet. Max Tani, who was at Politico at the time, that Farhi had been suspended five days without pay. According to documents after the union stood up on Farhi鈥檚 behalf, the Post claimed Farhi had 鈥渏eopardized the safety of a colleague as well as the ability of The Washington Post to report in a foreign country.鈥� The Post didn鈥檛 comment at the time, but it鈥檚 believed to have been about what Farhi had tweeted.
Farhi fought back, with the help of the union, claiming he wasn鈥檛 given a chance to appeal his suspension 鈥� something he and the union believed to be his contractual right.
Well, on Wednesday, Farhi 鈥� who took a buyout from the Post late last year and has been writing for The Atlantic 鈥� his suspension has been 鈥嬧�媟escinded and the week鈥檚 pay he was docked has been restored.鈥� (It should be noted that Farhi taking the buyout was totally unrelated to any of this matter. He was and is a respected media reporter and was in good standing at the Post when he left.)
Farhi explained in another tweet that 鈥淭he Guild took the Post to court for unilaterally terminating a contractual right (the right to appeal a suspension) after our last contract expired and negotiations began on a new deal. The Guild lost suit at trial and appealed.鈥�
The Post eventually agreed to settle the case and a District of Columbia court signed off on it, bringing the issue to a close.
Farhi thanked the guild for taking up his case, adding, 鈥淣ot to pile on the Post, which I revere, but my tweet was a factual and accurate description of the Post鈥檚 editorial policy, which the Post itself announced a few hours later.鈥�
Important stuff
This week, 天美传媒影业 is publishing installments from 鈥淪hut Out: Strategies for good journalism when sources dismiss the press,鈥� which is 天美传媒影业鈥檚 report from a symposium by the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership about the growing trend of sources bypassing independent reporting.
Here鈥檚 the main PDF written by Fernanda Camarena and Mel Grau and edited by Jennifer Orsi and 天美传媒影业 president Neil Brown: 鈥淪hut Out: Strategies for good journalism when sources dismiss the press.鈥�
Media tidbits
- My colleague Rick Edmonds, 天美传媒影业鈥檚 media business analyst, with 鈥淕annett hits pause button on its promise to restaff its smallest papers.鈥�
- The Associated Press鈥� David Bauder with
- The Daily Beast鈥檚 Corbin Bolies with
- MSNBC president Rashida Jones will be this year鈥檚 commencement speaker at the University of the District of Columbia and will receive an honorary doctorate during the ceremony.
- For The New Yorker, Kyle Chayka with
- The Wall Street Journal鈥檚 Katie Deighton with
Hot type
Quite the story here for Boston Globe Magazine from Patricia Wen:
For The New York Times, Marcus J. Moore with
Correction: This story has been updated to correct the spelling of former Washington Post reporter Paul Farhi’s name.
Have feedback or a tip? Email 天美传媒影业 senior media writer Tom Jones at tjones@poynter.org.
More resources for journalists
- Reporting on the Rise of AI: A RAND-天美传媒影业 Masterclass
- 闯耻苍别鈥檚 Lead with Influence is for women and nonbinary leaders to develop their political clout.
- Subscribe to 天美传媒影业鈥檚 Friday newsletter, Open Tabs with 天美传媒影业 managing editor Ren LaForme, and get behind-the-scenes stories only available to subscribers.
- Understand U.S. Immigration From the Border to the Heartland 鈥� Start any time.
The 天美传媒影业 Report is our daily media newsletter. To have it delivered to your inbox Monday-Friday, sign up here.
Follow us on and on .
