Last Tuesday, Oct. 21, the Indiana Daily Student (IDS) print publication was cut by the university, shortly after The Media School director, Jim Rodenbush, was fired. The next edition, which was about homecoming, was supposed to go out that Thursday. Now, this has left student journalists and press advocates in a full on dispute, accusing the university of censorship.
Why was Rodenbush fired?
Ahead of the Oct. 16 edition of IDS, which was set to include a Homecoming guide, The Media School directed the staff to not print any news in the paper, which is an order clearly in defiance with their editorial independence and the Student Media Charter.
Prior to this, IU and The Media School had already directed the IDS to stop printing all news coverage in the newspaper, except special editions that were historically included as inserts in the paper. No matter if it’s a high school or college level publication, telling the staff what they can and can’t print is pure unlawful censorship, which is established by legal precedent that surrounds speech law at public colleges. In addition, the Student Press Law Center has agreed and even told the university to reverse course.
After Rodenbush resisted the orders, IU immediately terminated his employment. Even more, when IDS asked the school to rescind the order, print publications were cut altogether. According to the termination letter, he was fired due to the fact that his “lack of leadership and ability to work with the university’s direction for the Student Media Plan is unacceptable.” It was also stated that the university’s leadership “lost trust in your ability to lead and communicate appropriately on behalf of the university.”
Rodenbush was completely ignored by administrators, and eventually took his concerns to the dean following a meeting back on Sept. 25, where he directly told the staff what to do and not to do would result in censorship.
Several student media leaders in which Rodenbush oversaw criticized his termination.
“IUSTV is incredibly worried about the Media School’s decision to terminate staff member Jim Rodenbush,” Indiana University Student Television said in a statement. “Jim has been nothing but an informative teacher to IUSTV and our members in his capacity as our advisor. Additionally, the context of the termination surrounding the censorship of the IDS gives our organization pause about the future of our publishing capabilities, along with the possible threat of prior review from the Media School and 1st amendment infringements. To lose a valued staff member under the reasoning given is illogical and provides cause for concern as to the future of free expression in student media at The Media School.”
What does this mean going forward?
From here on out every Thursday, the publication won’t have any sports, news, arts or investigative stories, letters, and even special publications that were originally supposed to be printed.
When the staff reached out to several administrators, IU chancellor, David Reingold, replied with a statement.
“Indiana University Bloomington is firmly committed to the free expression and editorial independence of student media,” Reingold said. “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.”
Right now, there’s no possible way to trust this, because cutting print altogether is a very blatant reaction to the protests by IDS. Rather than attempting to compromise and bring the situation to peace, administrators wanted to go the easy way and throw in the towel.
Looking ahead, several concerns are raised about advertisement contracts, which makes the staff money as they’re a fully self-funded publication.
Advertisers everywhere have impressions about IDS that shape who they are, therefore does the university even care if the reputation rapidly declines? From this, it seems that the budget isn’t the only factor of consideration behind IU’s decision to pull the plug.
Though print is gone, the website still exists, but what would happen if the university “has enough” of the online presence? If this deficit continues online, with all the previously mentioned issues, cutting back on operations as a whole could potentially become a budgetary decision.
It’s as clear as day that The Media School is a lot more focused on censorship than real student media solutions that can elevate everyone in a positive way. Currently, all editorial decisions, including print contents, lie in the students’ hands. All publications, high school or college, deserve to have support from the school because these students work day and night, 24/7 to cover all the various events (clubs, sports, etc) that make the school what it is. But, to see the IDS, a program built on strong editorial independence with over a 158-year-long history, being punished by the school is pure disrespect for what they produce.
This entire situation goes way beyond print, it’s now become a breach of editorial independence. If the university can decide that certain topics discussed in articles are “bad for business,” then what’s stopping them from prohibiting other stories from various IU platforms?
All of the administrators are unwilling to bring student media to the table, which is resulting in a loss of trust in the good faith action. Earlier in the semester, the staff directly brought up the potential of the school directing them to stop printing, the issue was completely ignored. This is because of the fact that the power student media is being pushed to the side.
In the end, “the school” has been focused more on the wrong things: censorship, hostility, and irrational business. This is sending a signal to the entire campus, pointing the staff completely in the wrong direction with a very difficult detour. Eyes need to be opened by these leaders in order to realize that student journalists deserve to have their voices heard. In the long run, this generation is setting the standard for the next groups to come.
