Latest news with #studentjournalism
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Purdue distances itself from student newspaper, will no longer help with campus distribution
Purdue University announced it will no longer help distribute its student newspaper on campus — one of a handful decisions distancing itself from the independent student publication. Student journalists working at the The Purdue Exponent, First Amendment advocacy organizations and community members say the decision is likely to suppress student journalism and readers' ability to access information — drawing concern over the freedom of the press enshrined in the First Amendment. "This goes back to Purdue trying to sideline the Exponent and control that source of information," former Exponent editor Seth Nelson said. "The more you separate the student newspaper from the campus ecosystem and from the Purdue brand, the easier it is for you to control the message." Purdue's Office of Legal Counsel told the Exponent's publisher and editor in an email sent May 30 that it would no longer help distribute the biweekly paper on campus, citing an expired facilities contract. Previously, the Exponent worked with university employees to deliver papers to racks during early morning hours when many campus buildings are locked. The letter said the Exponent still could deliver the papers to stands "on a non-exclusive, first-come, space-available basis." Purdue also told the 135-year-old publication, which is trademarked as "The Purdue Exponent" through 2029, that it should omit the university's name moving forward. It also pulled Exponent staff's ability to purchase parking passes at a campus garage. The university stood by its decision in a June 5 statement, saying the Exponent is a private business and Purdue doesn't provide such support to other media organizations. In the email, Purdue said the basis for its decision is a contract that expired in 2014. The parties had still honored the terms of the agreement for the last 11 years. The Exponent said in its statement it had attempted to renew the contract for years, while the university email said it has no intention to enter into a new contract. The day after the Exponent's June 5 public statement critiquing the decision, publisher Kyle Charters said the Exponent and Purdue have had "quality conversations" on the matter. The university's decision drew ire from many in the local community who say the publication, which is staffed by about 125 students during the school year, is one of the best outlets for in-depth Purdue coverage. Many local news outlets have experienced reductions in resources and staff needed to inform the area of about 110,000. Charters said this decision impact students who opt to write for the Exponent. Though independent, the student publication is lab for students to learn journalistic skills regardless of their major. The publication's work has often been recognized for excellence by the state chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. Purdue's action also caught the attention of First Amendment watchdog organizations such as the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. "Purdue's actions reflect a betrayal of the press freedom our Constitution requires it to uphold," said Dominic Coletti, a program officer on FIRE's campus advocacy team. "The university's commitment to institutional neutrality does not require it to abandon its relationship with the Exponent." Nelson, the former editor who will be a senior at Purdue this fall, said the university's move isn't an act of overt censorship but demonstrates the university is attempting to hinder the independent publication's ability to do its job. There's not one news item he can point to that would have inspired this decision, but Nelson said it's rather the school's uneasiness with an independent news source so close to campus. "It's a larger multi-billion dollar organization that is leveraging its weight and power to suppress the voice of a student newspaper," he said. "Of course, that's a First Amendment issue." Despite the changes, the Exponent is planning for business as usual. The distribution plan has been shifted to address the new challenges in the interim, and the smaller team of student journalists will continue producing news over the summer. "We're going to continue to do what we do and that is cover the news," Charters said. The USA TODAY Network - Indiana's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Have a story to tell? Reach Cate Charron by email at ccharron@ or message her on Signal at @ This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue distances itself from student newspaper, wants school name removed
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Purdue distances itself from student newspaper, will no longer help with campus distribution
Purdue University announced it will no longer help distribute its student newspaper on campus — one of a handful decisions distancing itself from the independent student publication. Student journalists working at the The Purdue Exponent, First Amendment advocacy organizations and community members say the decision is likely to suppress student journalism and readers' ability to access information — drawing concern over the freedom of the press enshrined in the First Amendment. "This goes back to Purdue trying to sideline the Exponent and control that source of information," former Exponent editor Seth Nelson said. "The more you separate the student newspaper from the campus ecosystem and from the Purdue brand, the easier it is for you to control the message." Purdue's Office of Legal Counsel told the Exponent's publisher and editor in an email sent May 30 that it would no longer help distribute the biweekly paper on campus, citing an expired facilities contract. Previously, the Exponent worked with university employees to deliver papers to racks during early morning hours when many campus buildings are locked. The letter said the Exponent still could deliver the papers to stands "on a non-exclusive, first-come, space-available basis." Purdue also told the 135-year-old publication, which is trademarked as "The Purdue Exponent" through 2029, that it should omit the university's name moving forward. It also pulled Exponent staff's ability to purchase parking passes at a campus garage. The university stood by its decision in a June 5 statement, saying the Exponent is a private business and Purdue doesn't provide such support to other media organizations. In the email, Purdue said the basis for its decision is a contract that expired in 2014. The parties had still honored the terms of the agreement for the last 11 years. The Exponent said in its statement it had attempted to renew the contract for years, while the university email said it has no intention to enter into a new contract. The day after the Exponent's June 5 public statement critiquing the decision, publisher Kyle Charters said the Exponent and Purdue have had "quality conversations" on the matter. The university's decision drew ire from many in the local community who say the publication, which is staffed by about 125 students during the school year, is one of the best outlets for in-depth Purdue coverage. Many local news outlets have experienced reductions in resources and staff needed to inform the area of about 110,000. Charters said this decision impact students who opt to write for the Exponent. Though independent, the student publication is lab for students to learn journalistic skills regardless of their major. The publication's work has often been recognized for excellence by the state chapter of the Society for Professional Journalists. Purdue's action also caught the attention of First Amendment watchdog organizations such as the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression. "Purdue's actions reflect a betrayal of the press freedom our Constitution requires it to uphold," said Dominic Coletti, a program officer on FIRE's campus advocacy team. "The university's commitment to institutional neutrality does not require it to abandon its relationship with the Exponent." Nelson, the former editor who will be a senior at Purdue this fall, said the university's move isn't an act of overt censorship but demonstrates the university is attempting to hinder the independent publication's ability to do its job. There's not one news item he can point to that would have inspired this decision, but Nelson said it's rather the school's uneasiness with an independent news source so close to campus. "It's a larger multi-billion dollar organization that is leveraging its weight and power to suppress the voice of a student newspaper," he said. "Of course, that's a First Amendment issue." Despite the changes, the Exponent is planning for business as usual. The distribution plan has been shifted to address the new challenges in the interim, and the smaller team of student journalists will continue producing news over the summer. "We're going to continue to do what we do and that is cover the news," Charters said. The USA TODAY Network - Indiana's coverage of First Amendment issues is funded through a collaboration between the Freedom Forum and Journalism Funding Partners. Have a story to tell? Reach Cate Charron by email at ccharron@ or message her on Signal at @ This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Purdue distances itself from student newspaper, wants school name removed
News.com.au
5 days ago
- General
- News.com.au
Sydney University newspaper uninvites news.com.au Political Editor Samantha Maiden from speaking at event
Thirty years after I enjoyed the honour of editing the student newspaper On Dit at Adelaide University and engaged in all of the traditional undergraduate ratbaggery, perhaps it was only a matter of time before I got cancelled. As it turns out that moment arrived this week, in the form of the politburo running the student newspaper Honi Soit. In March, a lovely person called Imogen kindly invited me to Honi Soit 's student newspaper conference at Sydney University. 'No doubt you are a very busy person, and have lots of fantastic opportunities offered to you. However, I am hoping that you would be willing to speak in an interview for an event at our conference, to talk to a room of young Australian journalists about your work in federal politics and your role as the political editor for she wrote. 'I can say on behalf of the attendees that we would be honoured to hear you speak, and that it would really be a highlight of the conference.' Given my background as a former Adelaide university newspaper editor, where I attended with Penny Wong, Natasha Stott-Despoja, Mark Butler, Adelaide Festival director Jo Dyer and the journalists Annabel Crabb and David Penberthy in their undergraduate heydays, I thought it might be fun, and I could even take my son who is 17, who might enjoy seeing Sydney University. I even dug out some old photographs of myself with my co-editor Vanessa Almeida. As an aside there is a huge missed opportunity here. Honi Soit should have waited to flash mob me at the actual event and scream obscenities at me, which my teenage son may have enjoyed quite a lot. But I digress. Although I had considered doing the conference by zoom, I had proposed to catch the train down to spend time with my son and friends. Naturally, I was doing it for free. Alas, this charming train journey to Sydney will not occur as it turns out I am, unbeknownst to myself, a sleeper radical on the issue of Israel. It all came into sharp focus following a mysterious investigation by the Honi Soit editors. This week, they wrote a solemn email cancelling my attendance at the conference that they had asked me to attend, citing unspecified thought crimes involving Palestine. 'We are reaching out regarding your involvement in the 2025 Student Journalism Conference,'' they wrote. 'We have received community concerns about your political coverage and reporting on the Palestinian genocide. 'As a left-wing newspaper, Honi Soit recognises that Israel is committing an ongoing genocide in Palestine and we do not feel that our values align, or that we can platform your work as a result.' The truly weird aspect of this bizarre cancelling is I don't recall writing anything about Palestine recently at all, let alone anything controversial. I have literally no idea what they are on about, and regardless, even if I had written something or said something controversial that the Honi Soit editors did not agree with, so what? As it turns out, it matters quite a good deal to the editors of Honi Soit who are determined to build themselves a Peter Dutton style echo chamber where they only talk to people who they agree with. 'It is important to us that the speakers at the Student Journalism Conference have views that we can stand by, and in light of the reception to the announcement of your event, we do not feel that we can host you as a speaker at our conference,'' they wrote. 'We apologise for the inconvenience.' At first, I regarded it as some sort of amusing joke. But the more I thought about I reflected on how troubling it is that these sensitive petals at Sydney University, a good proportion of whom come from wealthy families, private schools and the world of mummy and daddy paying for their rent, are in such a froth about people that they think may think differently to them. Another panellist, the ABC broadcaster David Marr, kindly wrote a letter in support of free speech in solidarity. He's deplatforming himself from the conference. 'Imogen, I've just learned that you've deplatformed Sam Maiden because of 'concerns' about her 'political coverage','' he wrote. 'That's not my idea of how a good newspaper – let alone a student paper – should behave. Isn't the point of Honi Soit and a conference of this kind to examine different – and perhaps uncomfortable views – about the big issues of the day? I'm out.' And I didn't have to dig far into the archives of Honi Soit to find writer Robbie Mason, a self-described 'anarchist' with a very hot take on all of this in an article titled: Cancel culture is a dumb, toxic, liberal phenomenon antithetical to leftist organising. 'Cancel culture is an evangelical headhunting mission centred on public humiliation, ostracism and guilt by association,'' he wrote. 'When I think of cancel culture in its current form, I think of micro-transgressions and microaggressions. Rumours. Fight versus flight. Tears on bedroom carpets, downward glances in corridors and Twitter warriors emboldened by the poisonous sting of a keyboard. 'This encampment – this safe space – has transformed into a towering fortress. It is built upon the smeared reputations and social corpses of the most vulnerable in society – young activists, people of colour and non-university educated workers, for instance. 'As an anarchist, I am distrustful of a technocratic elite replicating the behaviour of ruling classes. 'Academic writing leaves a sour taste in my mouth. Forcing readers to continually decode the meaning of research and jargon ensures an intellectual elite remains in control of society and dominates public discourse – albeit an intellectual elite often with their hearts in the right place. This is nonetheless a form of power and hierarchy. 'As an anarchist, I am inclined to distrust hegemonic leftist arguments and mob rule.' Me too, Robbie Mason, Me too. In fact, the whole affair reminded me of Milan Kundera's first novel, The Joke, which describes how a student's private joke derails his life. Naturally, the author was my special study in Year 12 English. The novel opens with Ludvik back in his hometown in Moravia, where he is shocked to realise he recognises the woman cutting his hair, though neither acknowledges the other. In the novel, he reflects on the joke that changed his life in the early 1950s, when he was a supporter of the Communist regime. A girl in his class wrote to him about 'optimistic young people filled through and through with the healthy spirit' of Marxism; he replied caustically, 'Optimism is the opium of mankind! A healthy spirit stinks of stupidity! Long live Trotsky!' Pressured to share the contents of the letter with others in the Communist Party at school, Ludvik is unanimously expelled from the Party and from the college. Having lost his student exemption, he is drafted into the Czech military where alleged subversives formed work brigades, and spent the next few years working in the mines at a labor camp in Ostrava. I shall report back how it goes for me in Ostrava. Wish me luck.
Fox News
28-05-2025
- Business
- Fox News
Brown University clears student of wrongdoing after he sent campus employees DOGE-like email
Brown University has cleared student Alex Shieh as well as the board of The Brown Spectator of allegations that they violated Brown University's name, licensing, and trademark policies. "Elite academia is in crisis because of a refusal to accommodate ordinary Americans and an unaccountable class of bureaucrats who treat universities as corporate brands rather than institutions of learning," Shieh told Fox News Digital in a statement. "I think we need to rethink what it means to be elite. Today, elite schools are elitist. I'm fighting for them to be elite in a meritocratic sense, where they are filled with the best and the brightest, not the richest and most well-connected." Shieh, a rising junior who was cleared of wrongdoing by the university on May 14, 2025, had previously angered school officials by sending a DOGE-like email to non-faculty employees identifying himself as a journalist for The Brown Spectator and asking them what they do all day to try to determine why the school's tuition has gotten so expensive. The Brown Spectator, which has a board of three people, including Shieh, was revived this year after it ceased publication in 2014. The board members faced a disciplinary hearing on May 7 over allegations that they violated Brown University's name, licensing and trademark policies. Shieh told Fox News Digital that other campus publications also use the school's name, including "The Brown Daily Herald," another student-run nonprofit newspaper. Shieh and the Spectator faced scrutiny from the university after Shieh began investigating positions he deemed redundant after reviewing 3,805 non-faculty employees who worked at Brown and emailing them to ask, "What do you do all day?" In March, during free weekends, Shieh used AI to try to determine what Brown employees did and why the school, which costs nearly $96,000 a year, was so expensive. When creating his database, he formatted it to identify three particular jobs: "DEI jobs, redundant jobs, and bulls--t jobs." Shieh said he wanted to investigate DEI because of President Donald Trump's executive orders addressing DEI policies, and his administration threatening to withhold federal funds to universities who employ them. The goal was to get as much data as possible to improve his research. Only 20 of the 3,805 people emailed responded, and many of the responses were profane and hostile. On Tuesday, Shieh sent a follow-up email, featured below, to Brown administrators which Shieh said was "one last opportunity to justify their roles": Dear {recipient_name}, I'm a reporter for the Brown Spectator, and on June 4, I will testify before Congress regarding potential antitrust violations at Brown, including price-fixing and unlawful tying arrangements, driven by Brown's unsustainable growth in non-academic staffing and putting the cost of the American Dream out of reach for countless students who deserve a fair shot. As part of my testimony, I will submit a list of Brown employees whose positions appear potentially redundant, unnecessary, or in violation of federal civil rights laws, to be preserved permanently in the Congressional Record. In the interest of fairness and accuracy, I am offering you a second opportunity to explain your role to Brown students and the American public. Please respond to the following: 1. What are your primary responsibilities? 2. What tasks did you complete in the past 7 days? 3. How would Brown students be affected if your position were eliminated? Those unable or unwilling to describe their job will be noted as such in the Congressional Record, and their roles will be evaluated without the benefit of their input. Responses received by Wednesday, May 28 at 5:00 PM will be carefully considered before final materials are submitted to Congress. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. In a statement to Fox News Digital, Shieh said, "Today's follow-up email is about accountability. If Brown University can charge families $93,000 a year, it should at least be able to explain what its administrators do all day. This inquiry is a moral stand against the corruption of the American Dream by bloated, unaccountable bureaucracies that put diversity statements above student success." He is scheduled to testify on June 4 before the House Judiciary Committee's Subcommittee on the Administrative State, Regulatory Reform, and Antitrust for a hearing entitled, "The Elite Universities Cartel: A History of Anticompetitive Collusion Inflating the Cost of Higher Education." "Brown may be attempting to hide antitrust violations that the House Judiciary Committee is seeking to uncover," Shieh told Fox News Digital. "Brown had to settle a federal lawsuit last year related to illegal collusion in its financial aid packages, and this issue should be looked into further by the committee." In a statement to Fox News Digital, Brian E. Clark, vice president for news and strategic campus communications at Brown University, said that Shieh's case was not about First Amendment issues. "Despite continued public reporting framing this as a free speech issue, it absolutely is not," Clark said. "Since the initiation of Brown's review, that review has centered on investigating whether improper use of non-public Brown data or non-public data systems violated law or policy; whether deliberate targeting of individual employees violated law or policy; and whether violations to Brown's misrepresentation or name use policies took place." Clark added that the university "has detailed student conduct procedures in place to investigate alleged conduct code violations, resolve them and — in instances when students are found responsible — implement discipline. They are publicly available and outline in detail how disciplinary procedures and hearings are conducted, the rights and responsibilities students have, what outcomes might be expected, and how students can appeal decisions." He also said their "Student Conduct Procedures" have "guided our actions since this issue originated. Students have ample opportunity to provide information and participate directly in that process to ensure that all decisions are made with a complete understanding of circumstances. As Brown's procedures make abundantly clear, students are not presumed to be responsible for alleged violations unless so found through the appropriate conduct proceedings." Clark added that "Since the start of this matter, Brown has proceeded in complete accordance with free expression guarantees and appropriate procedural safeguards under University policies and applicable law."
Associated Press
23-05-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
CJF Bursary for BIPOC Student Journalists Awarded
TORONTO, May 23, 2025 /CNW/ - The Canadian Journalism Foundation (CJF) is proud to announce that Alexa Toguri-Laurin of Concordia University in Montreal will receive the 2025 CJF Bursary for BIPOC Student Journalists. Funded by Media Profile, an independent Canadian public relations firm, the $5,000 bursary aims to support racialized journalism students, a group that has historically been underrepresented in the industry. Toguri-Laurin, an award-winning student journalist intends to bring what she learned reporting on Montreal's Chinese community for school assignments and The Link newspaper to reporting on her own Japanese-Montreal community, focusing on the survival of Japanese-Canadians in Second World War internment camps. 'We make up only 0.1 per cent of Montreal's population,' she notes, 'yet we possess so many stories and perspectives that have not been shared.' Says Alison King, president of award sponsor MediaProfile: 'We are happy to support Alexa's goal of pursuing stories and issues around accessibility and intergenerational trauma that are important to the Japanese-Canadian community. We're proud that BIPOC student journalists can benefit from our support through this bursary.' For her part, selection committee member Amber LeBlanc says: 'Alexa shows a commitment to bravely telling independent stories in her community and a real aptitude for chasing and detailing local news and is shining an important light on topics relevant to Montreal. I look forward to seeing where she takes her storytelling next.' Toguri-Laurin will be recognized at the CJF Awards on June 12, at the Royal York Hotel in Toronto. CIBC is the presenting sponsor of the 2025 CJF Awards. The CJF also thanks supporters Google News Initiative, Rogers Communications, Labatt Breweries of Canada, McCain Foods, Intact, TD Bank Group, CBC/Radio-Canada, Aritzia, BMO Financial Group, CTV News, Canada Life, Sobeys, Scotiabank, RBC, FGS Longview Communications, KPMG, Canadian Bankers Association, WSP, Jackman Foundation, Canadian Medical Association, Accenture, Aga Khan Development Network, Apple Canada News, Bennett Jones LLP, Blakes, Canadian Women's Foundation, CPP Investments, Loblaw Companies Ltd., Maple Leaf Foods, OLG, Rishi Nolan Strategies, TD Securities, Uber, Greenrock Real Estate Advisors, CDPQ, Zai Mamdani/Mamdani Family Foundation, North Horizon, Toronto Star, The Globe and Mail and Massey College. In-kind sponsorship is provided by Beehive Design, The Canadian Press, Bespoke Audio Visual, MLSE and Porter Airlines. Cision is the exclusive distribution partner of the CJF. About The Canadian Journalism Foundation Founded in 1990, The Canadian Journalism Foundation promotes, celebrates and facilitates excellence in journalism. The foundation runs a prestigious awards and fellowships program featuring an industry gala where news leaders, journalists and corporate Canada gather to celebrate outstanding journalistic achievement and the value of professional journalism. Through monthly J-Talks, a public speakers' series, the CJF facilitates dialogue among journalists, business people, academics and students about the role of the media in Canadian society and the ongoing challenges for media in the digital era. The foundation also fosters opportunities for journalism education, training and research. About Media Profile Media Profile is a complete communications agency based in Toronto. As Canada's largest employee-owned agency, Media Profile sparks conversations with relevance and curiosity. Media Profile is proudly independent and represents a range of clients from top international brands to Indigenous governments and not-for-profit organizations. SOURCE The Canadian Journalism Foundation
