Campus protests underscore the importance of local higher-ed reporting
Campuses across the country have erupted in pro-Palestinian demonstrations over the last several weeks, the result of long-simmering anger over Israel’s war in Gaza.
Journalists have churned out a constant stream of coverage of the ensuing encampments, arrests, and at times, violence. Much of the attention has been on the volatile situation at Columbia University. Not every protest has resulted in such extremes, but a casual media consumer might be under the false impression that they have.
Moments like this are why we are committed to putting local reporters on the beat. Open Campus local reporters in more than a dozen communities are complicating the national narrative every day by reporting with nuance about what’s unfolding.
This tighter lens leads to coverage that’s less polarizing because it’s rooted in specifics. It captures the nuance that exists on campuses just an hour apart: Indiana University Bloomington saw dozens of arrests, but students at an Indianapolis encampment studied for finals together, sharing books, food, and toiletries.
Local reporters also understand the context of a place, producing more sophisticated coverage. In Texas, this means highlighting the hypocrisy of dozens of arrests after years of conservative lawmakers espousing free speech protections. In Mississippi, it means not shying away from calling out the racist jeers of counter-protesters.
And, because they work the higher-ed beat day in and day out, our reporters were following the initial rumblings of unrest weeks before it reached mainstream consciousness. Back in March, for example, University of South Florida students vowed to starve themselves, potentially to death, until their university severed ties with companies supporting Israel. Their hunger strike lasted more than two weeks, ending only after hospitalizations and health scares.
When the demonstrations began, our reporters jumped into action — but they weren’t parachuting. They already knew the key players and understood the role that universities play in their communities.
They were there for critical moments such as when police tear-gassed protesters at the University of South Florida and swept the encampment at Case Western Reserve University.
Our reporters’ local expertise has also allowed them to focus on more than just confrontations.
They’ve captured the closure of a social-justice hub at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, as well as moments of dancing and generosity at Northwestern and the University of Chicago.
And, our reporters have focused on the voices at the center of the fray, including pro-Israel students in Pittsburgh and seniors in Texas who fear their involvement in demonstrations will hinder their post-college plans.
Recently, critics have called out the media for putting too much emphasis on arrests and confrontations. It “fits a general pattern of protest coverage that focuses more on the drama of the disruption rather than the underlying reasons behind it,” journalism professor Danielle K. Brown wrote in NiemanLab this week. And the American public is left “badly informed about both the war itself and the movement against it,” Jill Filipovic said in The Atlantic.
The kind of local reporting we’re fostering around America is a solution to these problems.
Our reporters’ work is carefully observed, not inflammatory. They state things plainly: In Texas, our reporter noted that “Last week’s protest showed no signs of violence before police got involved.”
And, they step back from the scene, tracking the history of student activism at the University of South Florida and explaining what divestment really entails. This type of coverage helps explain the why behind this movement: Students are demanding their universities divest from weapons manufacturers and companies doing business in Israel.
Coverage of other aspects of higher ed hasn’t stopped, either. While encampment coverage has continued, our reporters have also shed light on students’ financial aid stress, detailed colleges’ workforce training plans, and tracked ballooning pay for presidents.
Our reporters aren’t merely dropping in to cover a controversy. Once the encampments clear and media coverage of them fades, our local reporters will still be there.
Colleen Murphy is the managing editor for the Local Network at Open Campus.
Open Campus is the only nonprofit news organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to higher education. It’s built on an innovative collaborative model, combining a national newsroom that knows higher ed deeply with local newsrooms that know their communities deeply. Open Campus has put local reporters on the higher-ed beat in partnerships with 14 newsrooms around the country. Learn more about our model.
