We lose when media is AWOL
At a time when faith in the integrity of the media is at an alltime low, it is interesting to note that certain factions of the American left seem to be opposed to the very idea of established journalism norms and ethical press practices entirely.
Just last week, the student government at Harvard voted to condemn the university’s student newspaper, the Harvard Crimson, for daring to follow basic journalism guidelines. For a September story on student protests against Immigration and Customs Enforcement actions, the offending news organization merely reached out to the agency for comment, as would be standard practice in any newsroom in the country.
Incensed students circulated a petition that was signed by more than 900 people, demanding that the paper, “apologize for the harm they inflicted on the undocumented community,” by requesting a comment from ICE.
On Nov 5, another student newspaper, The Daily Northwestern of Northwestern University’s prominent journalism school, covered the big news of the day. Former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was on campus, resulting in two protests. One was especially disruptive as students broke into the lecture hall, “attempting to interrupt Sessions’ talk by climbing through open windows and pushing through doors,” according to the paper.
Journalists from the Daily captured it all, distributing pictures and video of the action on social media and writing upwards of one thousand words in an article for their website. The newspaper captured the evening of violent disruption, clashes with police and subsequent harassment of ordinary people who had simply shown up to hear Sessions speak.
Then, last Sunday the leadership of the Daily did something remarkable. They published an editorial apologizing for their coverage of the protests.
“We feel that covering traumatic events requires a different response than many other stories,” the editorial read. “While our goal is to document history and spread information, nothing is more important than ensuring that our fellow students feel safe — and in situations like this, that they are benefiting from our coverage rather than being actively harmed by it. We failed to do that last week, and we could not be more sorry.”
Yes, you read that right. “Nothing is more important than ensuring that our fellow students feel safe.”
That statement is so far from any charter that any journalistic institution should ever espouse that one would almost believe it is satire. The job of a newspaper is precisely to inform its readers of the news and events of the day, not to act as a daily dispatch of “Chicken Soup for the Soul.”
Also, just because a group of rowdy students act traumatized does not mean there is a traumatic event at hand. College culture has for decades fostered an environment where students are engaged in loud melodrama and made to feel important and relevant in lieu of having lived any real life experiences.
The editorial ends with the final journalistic death knell of the paper.
“We hope we can rebuild trust that we weakened or lost last week. We understand that this will not be easy, but we are ready to undertake the reform and reflection necessary to become a better paper.”
And the trend of “canceling” responsible independent journalism is not confined to college campuses. No less a paper than the New York Times has changed its headlines at the demands of the mob.
Real journalism is vital to a free society and it must be protected.