The tension created by the protests and interactions with the student media at the University of Missouri this week can be felt through written words and even more so through the multimedia footage being released.
However, the tension felt between those actually on the scene is hard to imagine.
Protests are high-stress, emotionally-charged situations as is. Protesters want their voice to be heard as loud and as far as possible. Journalists want to cover the protest to let the rest of the world understand what is happening.
Both groups whole-heartedly believed in the causes they were defending – the right to protest privately and the right to report.
The rights of students are undoubtedly important. However, such tensions call to question – does a student protester have greater rights than a student journalist?
It”s understandable that student protesters are worried about how their message would be communicated. Mainstream media has a tendency to inadequately or inaccurately cover non-white racial issues. However, in this situation the protesters buried their message due to their free press concerns.
Being involved in the community a reporter is covering provides the journalist with unique context of the on-going problems within the society and its culture. The student media at Missouri had this context, and it gave them an opportunity to tell the story thoroughly and accurately.
A good journalist doesn”t want to become part of the story. Tim Tai, the student journalist in the video-documented confrontation with protesters, didn”t want to either.
Tai was trying to document the protest for its historical value. He stood up for his First Amendment rights as a member of the press. He correctly acknowledged that those are the same rights allowing student protesters to gather in the first place.
Some of the reporters who were shut out were classmates of the protesters. The protesters called for protection of student rights, but they denied the rights of their fellow students in refusing to allow them to cover their protest.
Just because a member of the media doesn”t openly support a cause, doesn”t mean they won”t strive for accuracy and fairness in their reporting. In fact, activist movements in the past have used the media as a tool to get their message across to people who weren”t aware of it before. The protesters at Missouri missed that opportunity.
It is a journalist”s duty to accurately capture events as they unfold. Although a story may not, and should not, lean in favor of any cause, a common goal is for the finished result to ring true and fair.
The protesters had cause to protest and every right to do so. Their message was one that they could tell well, being victims of racial discrimination and harassment on campus. It”s a shame their message was buried.
– KH