The Journalism faculty at Indiana University are appalled by Chancellor David A. Reingold’s decision to cut the print edition of the Indiana Daily Student hours before publication. This move broke with the Student Media Action Plan, threatened the editorial independence of our student journalists and breached the core values of journalism that we discuss every day in our classrooms.
Indiana University has a long and proud history of student journalism. Our students have done the vital, difficult work of reporting and publishing in a very challenging atmosphere for reporters on campus and around the world. They have weathered many storms, including threats and harassment they received for their coverage of protests on Dunn Meadow. Our students have kept their composure again and again. We are so proud of them.
In order to honor our students, repair trust with our alumni community and restore the long, proud legacy of journalism at IU, campus leadership should produce a complete, independent accounting of the events of the last week and take ambitious, meaningful actions to show their commitment to journalism’s future. This must include a restoration of the printed special editions of the Indiana Daily Student as agreed upon in the Student Media Action Plan. We stand ready to join a conversation about next steps.
Sincerely,
Carrie Cochran
Joseph Coleman
Ryan N. Comfort
Suzannah Evans Comfort
Anthony Fargo
Thomas French
Kathleen Johnston
Gerry Lanosga
Bonnie Layton
Steve Layton
Taeyoung Lee
Lisa D. Lenoir
Craig Lyons
Elaine Monaghan
Radhika Parameswaran
Jason Peifer
Anne Ryder
Mike Wells
Teresa A. White
UPDATE: This story has been updated to include a previously excluded faculty member's name.
