A decision by the Indiana University Media School to fire its director of student media after he refused to censor the Indiana Daily Student this past week is shocking and appalling.
It should not have happened and signals just how far IU’s “media school” has fallen from grace as a preeminent school of journalism.
The Daily Student reported that Media School Dean David Tolchinsky fired Director of Student Media Rodenbush after he refused to comply when ordered to tell journalism students that they could only publish “homecoming information” in their Oct. 16 issue, not any other “news” as would normally be covered by the student newspaper.
“… nothing but information about homecoming — no other news at all, and particularly no traditional front page news coverage,” read an Oct. 7 email to the IDS co-editors-in-chief, relaying the IU Media School’s directive from Tolchinsky, according to a letter to the editor composed by Daily Student editors to their readership.
When the student journalists pushed back, IU’s Media School canceled the print publication of the homecoming issue.
The Daily Student journalists responded, “Telling us what we can and cannot print is unlawful censorship, established by legal precedent surrounding speech law on public college campuses.”
They also pointed out that anyone leading a “media school” should understand what censorship is and have a firm grasp on the First Amendment noting that telling student journalists, or any journalists for that matter, what they can and cannot print is a violation of their constitutional rights.
The editors said in their letter, “The IDS has an over 158-year-long history of strong editorial independence, a principle outlined clearly in our Student Media Charter, available for any administrator or member of the public to view. It’s this editorial independence that has allowed us to hold university administrators and those in power across the state to account.
“IU and the Media School’s history of supporting our independence is part of why its journalism program was so well-respected for decades. But now, despite this history — and in defiance of decades of court cases protecting student journalists’ editorial independence — IU’s directive to stop printing news is “an expectation, not a suggestion,” according to the order. This blatant misunderstanding or disregard of what constitutes “content” and “editorial independence” — foundational concepts students learn during the journalism program’s required media law course — is cause for alarm.”
The decision by the dean and the response of the students is already moving around the world as IU grads decry this action by the IU administration, appalled that what was once a leading journalism program has fallen so far.
The damage to the reputation of the “media school” is catastrophic. Why would anyone considering a journalism career even think about attending IU when they know the dean and administration is capable of this type of blatant censorship and will fire anyone who challenges it.
This newspaper stands with the Daily Student journalists who are fighting back with the biggest weapon they have — news coverage of IU’s actions.
IU should apologize, reinstate Rodenbush, and keep their hands off The Daily Student. The student journalists are giving the university a “teachable moment,” and they should learn quickly that the entire university’s reputation is on the line after this sequence of events that only shows ignorance and disregard for the First Amendment.
