On Tuesday, Oct. 14, Indiana University fired its paper’s adviser, Jim Rodenbush. This termination followed Rodenbush’s refusal of an order made to the editors that mandated no news stories would run in The Daily Student’s Homecoming special edition.
The Daily Student is Indiana University’s collegiate newspaper. Advocates for student media and other high-profile university alumni, including Mark Cuban, have vocalized their disapproval of the University’s decision.
When news stories kept appearing in the three special editions from this fall, the only forms of print media from the Daily Student, IU Media School Dean David Tolchinsky fired Rodenbush.
“Your lack of leadership and ability to work in alignment with the university’s direction for the Student Media Plan is unacceptable,” Tolchinsky wrote in Rodenbush’s termination letter.
The Daily Student quickly chastised the decision, blaming the university for censoring student media.
While the termination of Rodenbush has garnered attention from various media outlets, including AP, who have been following the story closely, this instance of pressure on a college news organization is one of many in the past year.
Co-Editor-in-Chief of The Daily Student, Andrew Miller, provided The Villanovan with a statement.
“IU decided to fire Jim Rodenbush after he did the right thing by refusing to censor our print edition,” Miller said. “That was a deliberate scare tactic toward student journalists and faculty.”
Miller also emphasized that Indiana University’s “business decision” decision to fully cut their physical paper has only financially hurt their news organization.
“The same day, the media school decided to fully cut our physical paper, fully ensuring we couldn’t print news,” Miller said. “We’re losing revenue because of that decision.”
Indiana University quickly released statements arguing that its decision was not one made as a threat to editorial independence. Nevertheless, its choice has entangled the Daily Student in a controversy surrounding free speech and first amendment rights.
Not too far from Villanova, Penn’s news outlet, the Daily Pennsylvanian, signed an amicus brief in support of the Stanford Daily just last week. The brief was filed by the Student Press Law Center in support of the Stanford Daily in its lawsuit (Stanford Daily Publishing Corporation et al. v. Rubio et al).
Along with 54 other media organizations, the Daily Pennsylvanian is joining others in vocalizing their disagreement with Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s use of federal immigration law to utilize visa relocations in order to threaten international student journalists and incite deportations for first-amendment backed speech.
Both instances of threats to student journalism have occurred just this October, and are just two instances of several this past year.
The Villanovan spoke with Director of Professional Development and former co-Editor-in Chief Kate Szumanski on developments in free speech she has noticed in student media across the country since she held that position here at the University.
Szumanski began by offering her perspective on the controversy regarding the Indiana Daily Student. Initially, she shared that the choice to cut the print publication is part of a larger trend that is happening in both major and local newsrooms everywhere.
“From my perspective as a former editor of The Villanovan, this print versus digital conversation that is happening at the Indiana Daily Student reflects the conversations of the print versus digital conversations that are happening in newsrooms across the country,” Szumanski said. “So I’m not surprised by that because print publications are expensive.”
However, Szumanski emphasized her confusion towards how editorial boards are being informed of these decisions.
“Now, how in real time these decisions are communicated to student editorial boards, I think is a bit in question here,” Szumanski said. “This doesn’t seem right or fair to me.”
Szumanski detailed the ways in which student media organizations generally have evolved with the digital shift. Given this shift, certain corporations and Universities have faced and placed pressure on media organizations that have sometimes plagued fundamental journalistic principles.
Students have noticed these dangers to free speech, and expressed their worries.
An international student who spoke with The Villanovan, who wishes to remain anonymous, shared their fear surrounding threats to student’s First Amendment rights. They specifically referenced the incident involving Turkish doctoral student Rümeysa Öztürk at Tufts University, whose detention was allegedly linked to her opinion piece on the Israel-Hamas war that appeared in The Tufts Daily.
“I mean, given what happened at Tufts, I don’t think people understand just how serious any violations to student media are,” the student said. “I didn’t even know what happened at Indiana University, but even if they [Indiana University] are saying it’s not about censorship, you can see why people are freaked out.”
While Villanova specifically hasn’t faced this pressure, students have paid close attention to the ways in which student media has been attacked in the recent months around the United States.
