You may have heard this before.
Last October, Indiana University fired Student Media Director Jim Rodenbush after he refused to tell the Indiana Daily Student staff what it could put in an upcoming newspaper — a directive from Media School administrators. Hours later, the university cut our print editions entirely.
After international news coverage, widespread backlash and donors withholding their dollars, IU reversed course two weeks later. That’s why today, a year on, the paper is in the stands.
Still, we feel the ripple effects. To this day, we’ll hear skepticism from sources and readers alike, wondering if last year’s censorship meant the IDS lost its editorial independence.
Let us be clear: it didn’t. The IDS staff is still reporting, free from outside influence or meddling.
In the spring, a task force comprising student media leaders, Media School faculty and other voices recommended actionable steps to ensure that editorial independence, as well as the financial sustainability of the IDS, IUSTV and WIUX, is safeguarded.
Central to implementing these recommendations is a new dedicated student media director, a role left vacant since last October. That person is to act as publisher and, as the task force’s report says, work with student media advisers to create “a cohesive strategy, operating plan, and budget” for presentation to a broader advisory board.
For that director position, The Media School hired Charlie Scudder, a former IDS editor-in-chief and current professor and student media adviser at Southern Methodist University. This is great progress toward the task force’s goals. We have full confidence in Charlie’s willingness to defend our foundational rights as a news organization and work with student media leaders as the shape of a newsroom continues to evolve when he joins us in December.
Because a central player in this vision for IU student media hasn’t yet arrived, we’re in a similar, in-between spot as in the spring.
Unimpeded by threats to our independence, our staff has been able to expand its social media presence, introduce another newsletter and further flesh out a robust opinion section, all while continuing our essential reporting on campus and in the wider Bloomington community.
After that task force released its recommendations, our predecessors emphasized, “There must be no half-measures in their implementation.” We concur. Rest assured, the two of us — or any number of the student journalists who may lead this newsroom in the future — will make sure of that.
