Northwestern journalists face backlash after coverage of Jeff Sessions visit

The Daily Northwestern faced backlash first for its coverage of a student-led protest of former Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ visit to campus, and then for an apology statement released in an attempt to mend fences with students who felt traumatized by the newspaper’s coverage — including interviews and photography — of the Nov. 5 protest.

“Some protesters found photos posted to reporters’ Twitter accounts re-traumatizing and invasive… We recognize being contacted like this [by text message] is an invasion of privacy,” the editorial stated. The apology centered around ways in which student protesters felt they had been harmed by the coverage of the protest. The backlash from students, however, was nothing compared to the backlash the student-journalists faced from professionals in the industry.

This is called reporting. Why are you apologizing for it? Mind-boggling to read this editorial from student journalists who attend one of the top schools for journalism in the country. https://t.co/1GRPbfV8Yr pic.twitter.com/8Hf3DAFz9w

— Amy Brittain (@AmyJBrittain) November 12, 2019

Amy Brittain, a reporter for The Washington Post’s Investigative team 

Apologizing for the sin of committing journalism. This is chilling and a sign of more to come: https://t.co/hrIZr1j7GQ

— Bari Weiss (@bariweiss) November 12, 2019

Bari Weiss, staff editor and writer for The New York Times Opinion section

So Northwestern’s student newspaper apologized for the trauma brought on by its coverage of a Jeff Sessions speech on campus?! When I read articles like these I feel like the country has gone insane. https://t.co/mRET986F0q

— Clay Travis (@ClayTravis) November 12, 2019

Clay Travis, Fox Sports Radio host and Lock it In TV show host

Interviewing participants as well as photographing an event is at the center of journalism; it is how stories are covered factually. In order to gather facts, journalists must hear from direct participants in the event at hand. The backlash focused on the position of Northwestern as one of the foremost journalism school’s in the country; its example in apologizing for doing “basic journalistic reporting” places feelings at a higher value than truth.

The Chicago Tribune’s opinion editorial regarding the event states, “Closson, as the third African American editor in Daily history, explained on Twitter that he thought he had a responsibility to gain readership from students of color who had felt alienated from the newspaper. That’s an appropriate goal, but here’s what news organizations owe their audiences: thorough, fair-minded coverage via energetic and creative reporting — not pandering to public sentiment. Readers (students included) who are pampered and protected remain uninformed.”

Journalism professionals are highlighting that journalism isn’t about feelings: it’s about reporting the truth. Reporting on tough topics is hard; however, it does not mean the topics should be avoided.

Because sometimes people *want* to talk. Sometimes they understand there is a greater good at stake, or that talking helps. If you show them enough empathy, they might even — one day — be grateful you called.

— Kevin Van Valkenburg (@KVanValkenburg) November 12, 2019

Kevin Van Valkenburg, Senior Writer for ESPN

Former program director for a college journalism program and current Poynter website editor Barbara Allen had this to say about the backlash The Daily reporters faced surrounding both their initial coverage of the protest and their Editorial apology: “Northwestern students have learned in the toughest way possible what it’s really like to be a journalist: Sources are going to push you and make demands, more knowledgeable elders are going to tell you just how wrong you are, and it’s all going to play out in public. And this is exactly how it should be, because these experiences turn you into a good journalist.”

The event poses questions about the future of journalistic reporting and how to move forward covering sensitive topics. How would you, as a high school student-journalist, respond to a request to remove content because someone feared the coverage would hurt them in the future? Do you have a policy regarding take-down requests of information already published?

Instagram moves to hide likes from feed

Instagram will begin testing hiding likes from public view in the U.S. next week, according to an interview with Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri on WIRED25. According to researchers, “…when users tailor their content to whatever garners the most engagement (or outrage), the result is a radicalized environment that makes healthy, happy conversations almost impossible.”

Instagram is just one of many social media companies testing out hiding engagement information from public view. Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have all tested hiding the content from the public.

Hiding engagement information is one of Mosseri’s latest tactics in making Instagram the, “safest place on the internet.”

Heads up! We've been testing making likes private on Instagram in a number of countries this year. We're expanding those tests to include a small portion of people in the US next week. Looking forward to the feedback!

— Adam Mosseri (@mosseri) November 9, 2019

The experiment will only affect select Instagram users.

Journalism students in conflict with school district regarding freedom of student expression

Naperville Central High School in Naperville, Illinois recently argued their rights as journalists under Illinois’ New Voices Law were compromised after the school district censored and delayed the release of a news story run in their Oct. 29 Issue.

The Central Times newspaper made the executive decision to write — and run — a story regarding disruptions in the classroom caused by a disabled student. The disabled student was not the heart of the article, but rather a small focal point opening up lines of communication about classroom disruptions and the effects on students’ ability to learn. In making the decision to run that article, The Central Times consulted the principal of Naperville Central – who then consulted the school district – regarding the running of the story. The school board deliberated for some time, finally deciding that the article may be ran, but censored.

The students decided to run a complementary story with the article on the front page of the paper discussing their rights as student journalists and the illegality of the censorship.

The paper was then held within the principal’s office for 24 hours after its delivery to the school, preventing its distribution.

The students felt that their rights under Illinois’ New Voices Law were being compromised. The law states that censorship of public school newspapers is only allowed if the content:

• Is libelous, slanderous or obscene
• Constitutes an unwarranted invasion of privacy
• Violates federal or state law
• Incites students to commit an unlawful act, to violate policies of the school district, or to materially and substantially disrupt the orderly operation of the school.

The principal and the school district defended their censorship as constituting an unwarranted invasion of privacy; the content that was censored revolved around the actions of the disabled student’s disruptions within the classroom. The staff felt differently.

The question is now who was in the wrong: the students or the principal and school district.

Read more about this issue here. 

Free Spirit Journalism Conference sets 2020 dates

The Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference for high school students is set for June 19-24 in Washington, D.C. The conference is for high school journalists in the class of 2021 (rising seniors) who want to be professional journalists and who demonstrate — through their application — that they embrace the “free spirit” embodied by Mr. Neuharth.

The application process is open, and the deadline for applications is Feb. 1, 2020. One student from all 50 states and the District of Columbia will be selected for the conference.