Student Journalism in the Age of Media Distrust

This year, USC’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism received a record-high number of first-year applicants. Other top journalism schools in the country — including Northwestern University and Columbia University — have seen similar rises in application rates.

Journalism schools are the latest industry to receive a so-called “Trump bump” in the age of fake news and media distrust. Along with the rise in subscriptions to newspapers like The New York Times, there seems to be a newfound perception that a career in journalism is more viable and important than ever. Despite Trump’s constant attacks on the press, the public is following the news more closely than ever, inspiring more and more students to want to join the field.

As someone who believes in the indispensability of the free press to a democratic society, I am pleased to see this trend unfolding. A similar shift happened in the 1970s following decades of civil unrest which finally culminated in President Richard Nixon’s undoing by a pair of reporters from The Washington Post. Fast forward nearly half a century, the prominence of the media stems from Trump’s constant attacks on journalism. №45 has vilified journalists as the enemies of the people, called them “dangerous & sick” and repeatedly decried media that fails to represent him as anything other than godly as “fake news.” What could be seen as detrimental to the industry has, in fact, renewed national interest in journalism.

This powerful rhetoric from the president has undoubtedly trickled down to the campus level and infiltrated student newsrooms. Increasingly, we are responding to the nationwide media distrust crisis by telling our own stories and remaining committed to providing fair, truthful information for the betterment of our communities.

Here at USC in particular, our campus has been hit—hard and repeatedly—by scandals and allegations against senior administrators. There was the murder of Professor Bosco Tjan; the ousting of meth-smoking Dean Carmen Puliafito as well as his successor Rohit Varma over sexual harassment charges; the nationwide outrage from Dr. George Tyndall’s decades of abuse; and finally the replacement of C. L. Max Nikias.

At every unfortunate turn the University makes, we student journalists have been on the frontlines, chasing down facts, gathering original sources, confirming details with the school. It is an exhausting but necessary duty. And now, USC is at a critical junction as the Board of Trustees embarks on what’s sure to be a lengthy search for the next University President.

I think student media has, time and time again, proved its value to the school and to the greater community in the reporting we provide. Unfortunately, administration does not feel the same way, as they barred student reporters from attending an public listening forum where students, faculty, and alumni were welcomed to share recommendations with the Board to aid in its search. After already excluding student representatives from the search committee, the least the Board could do was allow free and fair coverage of the events to perpetuate the transparency they claim to value.

But apparently that was too much to ask for.

The student editors of the Daily Trojan immediately sprung to action. By the end of the day, we had published a scathing Editorial Board condemning the University’s ungrounded censorship of our voices as well as reached out to a number of student press law resource centers for statements. Oh, and we also published the story about the forum that USC officials told us we weren’t allowed to cover anyway.

Within another 24 hours, the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) had sent a letter to administration saying USC was breaching students’ First Amendment and freedom of expression rights. The letter called on the University to rescind its ruling and allow students at future sessions. What’s more, the same media relations representative who barred us from the sessions called multiple times to concede defeat and apologize profusely for his mistake. And the cherry on top was Board Chairman Rick Caruso issuing direct public apologies to the Daily Trojan and Annenberg Media via email and at the latest forum. We won!

Ultimately, I think the University’s treatment of student journalists stems in part from national distrust and outrage engendered by the president. They gave no solid reasons for the media ban, but something about the culture and climate of our nation made them think such a decree was okay. It’s not; and if anything, how this story ended is indication as to how powerful student voices can truly be and what will happen to you if you mess with us. At the end of the day, this era of fake news is what drives us to fight to be heard and we, the multiplying number of student journalists nationwide, won’t bow down—not even to Rick Caruso and his puppets.