"Break It Up!" re: Campus Police
This week: COVID-19 parties, remote learning as a form of protest, unionizing student athletes and challenges to traditional authority.
Hey! Welcome to the second issue of Student Journalism, Nationwide. The stories I included this week are incredibly written (and in some cases, produced), so I really hope y’all enjoy. Before you get started, I have to say that the Q-Anon breakdown in the Audio section is some solid listening. If anything, make sure you click on that headline. You won’t regret it.
News
ABOR sues Facebook, 'asu_covid.parties' account owner over trademarks, misinformation
Piper Hansen, The State Press, Arizona State University
In an effort to distance itself from an Instagram account encouraging parties on campus, the Arizona Board of Regents sued Facebook. Hansen not only effectively timelined the account’s growth, but also addressed details of the lawsuit, such as the widespread damage the account had on university donors.
Santa Clara Professor and Family Harassed by Campus Safety
Noah Sonnenburg and Kyle De La Fuente, The Santa Clara, Santa Clara University.
With 43,100 retweets, Professor Morgan’s story of being harassed by campus safety quickly went viral. Sonnenburg and De La Fuente’s piece on expands on the events brought up in the viral thread, shedding light on more of the story and showing campus safety’s refusal to comment.
Features/A&E
WI Want Change: Student activism makes waves on campus and beyond
Nuha Dolby, The Badger Herald, The University of Wisconsin-Madison
Dolby excellently covers student involvement in BLM, climate change activism and the local politics that define the summer of 2020. She’s able to cover multiple facets, including navigating activism around a pandemic and remote involvement while staying true to the arc of the story.
Mandel calls on Town to commission investigation into WPD allegations
Kevin Yang, Williams Record, Williams College
Using the re-ignition of abolitionist rhetoric as a newspeg, Yang addresses his university’s recent $400,000 donation toward the construction of a new police station. His inclusion of faculty and students’ opinions on allegations of racial bias effectively convey a tense relationship and the steps that the offending party is taking to remedy it.
Opinions
Student Housing department displays blatant disregard for employee welfare
Priyanka Shreedar, The California Aggie, The University of California, Davis
In her cutting criticism of the university, Shreedar rallies for the individuals dependent on university employment for “financial aid, housing and food security.” She exposes the institutions performative attempts at social equity, claiming that in this time of need, the university is backtracking on its earlier promises.
Kernel social media manager shares experience with UK's contact tracing
Sarah Simon-Patches, Kentucky Kernel, The University of Kentucky
Simon-Patches’ personal accounts of her experience in campus quarantine after testing positive for the coronavirus leaves readers doubting the effectiveness of contact tracing. The lack of communication paired with evidence that certain individuals Simon-Patches had come in contact with were never alerted make for an alarming story.
Sports
Student Athletes Should Unionize
Issac Reese, The Daily Utah Chronicle, The University of Utah
Reese makes a case for student athlete unions, citing legal precedent and NFL policies that would benefit college players. Even for those not typically interested by sports, Reese’s recounts of exploitation and what rights student athletes could gain are shocking to any reader.
Davidson Community Seeks Accountability for Baseball Team
Erin Papakostas and Katie Stewart, The Davidson, Davidson College,
Papakostas and Stewart cover the snowball of cancel culture after a member of Davidson College’s baseball team came under fire for comments recently made online. Their inclusion of the dean advocating for “restorative justice” and of allegations of sexual harassment and racism make for a well-rounded piece that show the complicated reality of being labeled problematic.
Audio
The Dangers of QAnon, the Far-Right Conspiracy Theory Making its Way to Congress
Alexandra Goldberg, KCSB, University of California, Santa Barbara
Goldberg interviews Dr. Kevin Grisham, the Associate Director for the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino about QAnon’s 4chan origins and the larger implications of political violence. The show is newspegged to Marjorie Taylor Greene’s recent win in Georgia and the normalization of conspiracy theorists into the mainstream.
Weekly Refresh: Quarantine Meals & LGBTQIA+ in Prague
WNYU, New York University
On this podcast episode, students interview TikTok viral students about their quarantine meals and feature a queer student’s unique experience in Prague and how it lead her to unearth a subculture of the LGBTQIA+ experience.
Broadcast
Elon University Student Staying Home in Protest, Feels Unsupported by University
ELMN, Elon University
This clip features a Black Elon University sophomore who is unhappy with her administrations’ lack of support for Black students. The anchor of this clip adds context to the situation, citing how the Black population has been the most impacted by the virus as of the clip’s filming.
Coleman Center Grant
Sam Granville, Troy TrojanVision, Troy University
Granville explains the effects that a federal grant of half a million dollars will have on a campus center that is dedicated to early education. He interviews the director of the center, clearly laying out for watchers where funds will be allocated.
TK: Lies! Wait no…..falsehoods.
After President Trump’s closing speech at this year’s Republication National Convention, a clip of CNN’s Daniel Dale factchecking the speech, which was over an hour long, went viral on Twitter. His preface?
“This president is a serial liar.”
While Dale was the Washington Bureau Chief at the Toronto Star, he published a piece in 2018 laying out the nuances of the press labeling statements a “lie” versus a “falsehood” or “misstatement.” He was later quoted in the Columbia Journalism Review when a Haberman tweet reignited the debate again.
Accusing somebody of telling a lie assumes that the speaker is motivated by deception. Major media outlets, who are prone to defamation lawsuits (check out Nicholas Sandmann), have to be careful when asserting that a speaker’s a liar.
When it comes to everyday musings, Trump could be misspeaking or bluffing in order to not seem unintelligent. It’s harder to prove that he’s intentionally misleading a reporter. However, in a re-election speech, his goal is to convince listeners that the past four years make up an excellent track record.
Which is why I believe Dale felt it appropriate to use the word “lie” here. If Trump’s goal is to convince people and he had time to prepare this speech, then it’s safe to think that everything said was put in there for the reason of convincing voters.
Now, do student publications have the same ability to be characterizing people as liars? What sort of proof does one need to prove the intention of deception?
I usually hate to leave with a few questions, but I think it’s really important to consider. This week was another round of amazing, eye-opening student journalism. Catch me again next Friday for another go at great stories from around the nation.
Signing off,
Alex