Indiana University fully cut the Indiana Daily Student’s print newspaper — including the special publications it had earlier indicated it wanted us to run — Tuesday evening, hours after firing its student media director. Our next edition, part of volume 158, in our 158th year of publication, was set to go out Thursday.
IU and The Media School had previously 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.
After former Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush resisted, IU fired him. When we asked them to rescind the order, it cut print entirely.
So the newsstands Thursday, and all other Thursdays from now on, will not have news, sports, arts or investigative stories. No letters. Not even the special publications they had originally wanted us to print.
We didn’t make this call. Media School Dean David Tolchinsky sent the order to us in an email responding to our appeal that the school not censor our newspaper. He didn’t respond when we asked for clarification.
When approached Wednesday, Tolchinsky had no substantial response to questions surrounding Rodenbush’s termination or cutting IDS print entirely. Galen Clavio, the Media School’s associate dean for undergraduate education, told the IDS his understanding was that an interim director of student media “has either been named or will be shortly” and a search is coming.
We reached back out to multiple administrators and IU spokesperson Mark Bode on Wednesday for further clarification.
“Indiana University Bloomington is firmly committed to the free expression and editorial independence of student media,” IU Bloomington Chancellor David Reingold said in a statement. “The university has not and will not interfere with their editorial judgment.”
“In support of the Media School and implementation of their Action Plan, the campus is completing the shift from print to digital effective this week,” he continued. “To be clear, the campus’ 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 IU student media. We uphold the right of student journalists to pursue stories freely and without interference.”
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As it stands, we have no way to trust this. To cut print entirely is a clear, blatant reaction to our protests. Or maybe the university cut print this week by pure coincidence?
What happens to our advertising contracts, which make us money?
Does the university care if our reputation among advertisers plummets? It seems the budget may not be the only consideration behind IU's decision.
What happens when the university decides it’s had enough of our digital presence? That our independent reporting doesn’t benefit “the campus?” Perhaps if our deficit continues online — after all the aforementioned issues — cutting back operations entirely could be framed as a budgetary decision.
The Media School is more focused on censorship than real solutions for student media. Is this really the best use of the university’s resources? Or of ours? Editorial decisions, including the contents of our print product, firmly lie in the hands of the students.
This is not about print. This is about a breach of editorial independence. If IU decides certain types of content are “bad for business,” what stops them from prohibiting stories that hold them to account on our other platforms?
We don’t want to say our voices are completely cut out. We’ve had extremely productive discussions with Michael Arnold, executive director of integrated public media. Already in his new role, he’s worked to understand our perspective. We hope this continues in the future.
But “the campus” is focusing its attention in the wrong directions: censorship, hostility and irrational business.
When administrators are unwilling to bring student media to the table, there’s no way for us to believe they are acting in good faith. When we directly brought up the potential the school would direct us to stop printing news in a meeting earlier this semester with Media School administrators, they danced around the issue.
We’re waiting to come to the table. We will continue to resist as long as the university disregards the law. Any other means than court would be preferred.
