The protests on the University of Missouri campus effectively accomplished their goal when the university’s president and chancellor resigned after inadequately handling a variety of racist incidents.
Unfortunately the Mizzou demonstrators detracted from their movement recently by using force to deny fundamental, First Amendment rights to professional and student journalists.
A video, which has since gone viral on YouTube, shows one student photojournalist attempting to document an on-campus demonstration.
He is blocked, harassed and pushed by demonstrators. The student filming the exchange slips through the barricade of demonstrators and finds himself in the center of the grass field. He then asks to speak to two students.
He’s immediately targeted by Melissa Click, a mass communication assistant professor at the university, who is participating in the camp-out demonstration.
“You need to get out,” Click says. “You need to get out. You need to get out. Hey who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? I need some muscle over here. Help me get him out. Who’s going to help me?”
Click has since apologized for her absurd behavior and resigned from her post with the journalism school where she worked but did not teach.
The attempts to backtrack and apologize don’t sufficiently address the massive movement against student and professional media that was seen on the university’s campus two weeks ago.
At its worst, the event could be characterized as a coordinated attempt to stifle First Amendment rights.
At its best characterization, it was a grotesque display of mob mentality where several acted on the distorted motives of a few.
As a student news organization, we hope to never see this type of behavior on the San Diego State campus.
In our collective experience as student journalists, activists on the SDSU campus have been largely helpful and interested in having their story told.
We are proud to serve a campus community that understands the vital role that journalists serve.
It’s disappointing to see these actions detract from the activists’ central message, which intended to push back against pervasive and institutionalized racism within their campus community.
As colleges nationwide are fighting back against injustices on their campuses, we ask the students here at SDSU to continue being cooperative with the media trying to tell their stories. And if you have something to say, join our conversation and write a letter to the editor. We want the voices of our community to be heard in a respectful, educated environment.
We, the editorial board of The Daily Aztec, believe the First Amendment is not solely about preserving the profession of journalism and its importance to a democracy.
It’s about standing up for the fundamental rights of faith, assembly and expression — which we all share as Americans.
