Editors at the Indiana Daily Student say administration\u2019s move to control news content amounts to censorship<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Indiana University has ordered its student-run newspaper, the Indiana Daily Student (IDS), to cease printing new editions and fired the school\u2019s director of student media, who also served as the paper\u2019s adviser, according to multiple reports. Students at the school are criticizing these moves as censorship<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The university\u2019s directive to halt print editions came just hours after Jim Rodenbush, the school\u2019s director of student media, was terminated, according to a letter<\/a> from IDS editors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The editors said Indiana<\/a> University and the media school \u201cpreviously directed the IDS to stop printing news coverage in our newspaper. Only the special editions, traditionally included as inserts in our paper. Telling us what we can and cannot print is unlawful censorship. The Student Press Law Center agrees and had told the university to reverse course.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n They wrote: \u201cAfter former director of student media Jim Rodenbush resisted, IU fired him. When we asked them to rescind the order, it cut print entirely.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rodenbush confirmed to NBC News\u2002<\/a>on Thursday that he was fired on Tuesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In recent weeks<\/a>, there had been disagreements between university leadership, IDS editors and Rodenbush over what content could appear in the print paper, according to the Indianapolis Star<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIf you\u2019re telling them that you can\u2019t put this in the paper on campus, it\u2019s the literal definition of censorship,\u201d Rodenbush said in a meeting on 25 September with other IDS professional staff members, according to a recording obtained by the Star. \u201cIt cannot come from me, and it cannot come from you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rodenbush told NBC News that Indiana University had previously announced it would reduce the paper\u2019s print frequency from weekly to seven per semester. He said that he was told the school wanted to focus on \u201cspecial\u201d print editions that were more profitable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n But, he said, administrators went further and told him this fall that print editions could no longer include news content. The IDS\u2019s website still publishes news.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The next print issue was due to go out on Thursday, but the editors instead released a digital copy<\/a> online, according to their letter<\/a>. The front page features the words \u201cCENSORED\u201d in large red letters, with a subhead that reads: \u201cThis is not about print. This is about a breach of editorial independence.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWe are alarmed, but not shocked, by this media School administration\u2019s decision to terminate Jim based on his commitment to defending our First Amendment rights,\u201d student editors-in-chief Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller said in a statement to the Indianapolis Star.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAll media school and IU students, faculty and staff should be scared by this blatant attack on someone standing up for what\u2019s right.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Rodenbush told the same outlet that he \u201cwas terminated because I was unwilling to censor student media. 100%. I have no reason to believe otherwise.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n In a statement on Thursday, an Indiana University spokesperson told the Guardian that the university \u201cis committed to a vibrant and independent student media ecosystem\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cAs part of the 2024 action plan for student media, the campus is shifting resources from print to digital media, prioritizing student experiences that are more consistent with today\u2019s digital-first media environment while also addressing a longstanding structural deficit at the Indiana Daily Student,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cEditorial control remains fully with IDS leadership, and the university will continue to work closely with them to ensure the strength, sustainability and independence of student media at IU.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n The spokesperson added that the school \u201cdoes not comment on individual personnel matters\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n David Reingold, the chancellor of Indiana University Bloomington, said in a statement on Wednesday that the university was \u201cfirmly committed to the free expression and editorial independence of student media\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cInformed by feedback from a wide variety of stakeholders, the action plan for student media envisions a student media ecosystem that is centered on a digital content model and prepares students for digital-first careers,\u201d Reingold said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt also aims to address longstanding financial challenges facing the IDS \u2013 including a structural deficit that the campus has subsidized to the tune of several hundred thousand dollars each year \u2013 while affirming its charter and ensuring it retains complete control of its editorial content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Reingold added that the \u201ccampus is completing the shift from print to digital effective this week\u201d and that the \u201ccampus\u2019s decision concerns the medium of distribution, not editorial content. All editorial decisions have and will continue to rest solely with the leadership of IDS and all [Indiana University] student media.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Free expression groups and advocates have condemned the university\u2019s decision. On Thursday, PEN America, a non-profit focused on free expression, called the university\u2019s actions as a \u201cblatant violation of the principles of free expression that public universities are bound to uphold\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Student Press Law Center said that<\/a> it was \u201calarmed\u201d by the school\u2019s decisions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThese actions disregard strong first amendment protections and a longstanding tradition of student editorial independence\u201d the center wrote.<\/p>\n\n\n\n