Student journalists on the frontlines of protest coverage

Transcript:

[Note: This transcript was auto-generated and may contain errors.]

[Host] Zaidee Stavely:

When student journalist Chris Woodard received a tip that some of his fellow students at Sacramento State University might be setting up an encampment to protest the war in Gaza, he wasn’t sure if it was true.

Chris Woodard:

But it was like, okay, let’s be there and see what’s happening. And so, Monday, uh, the 29th of April, we got up there really early, about 7:00 AM and they were starting to, uh, set up tents and signs, and the encampment was underway.

Zaidee:

After that, Chris and others were there every day. Chris is the managing editor of the State Hornet,  Sacramento State’s student-run newspaper. Compared to many recent protests at other colleges, the protest at Sac State has been relatively calm, without major clashes with the administration, police, or counter protestors. But still,  Chris says, covering it has been stressful.

Chris:

You lay down in bed and your, your brain is spinning of all the different things that might happen or, you know, what are my next steps? What’s our next steps in coverage?

Zaidee:

When Chris can’t sleep, he turns to his phone and scrolls through news on social media, much of it from other student newspapers covering protests at their schools. One night he watched hours of videos  published by The Lumberjack ,Cal Poly Humboldt’s student newspaper, of police cleaning out the encampment there. The next night, he watched The Daily Bruin’s,  coverage of a violent attack on the encampment at UCLA by pro-Israel counter-protesters. And then he saw that student reporters themselves were attacked.

Chris:

They said that, uh, a group of counter protestors surrounded them and kind of blocked their camera that they had. They were then kicked multiple times in the stomach and the ribs, and they were also pepper sprayed. Um, and this entire time they were, they were cornered in an area where they couldn’t leave because they were surrounded. So each of them were, were pepper sprayed and then hit multiple times.

Zaidee:

This is Education Beat: Getting to the heart of California schools. I’m Zaidee Stavely. This week: Student journalists on the frontlines.

At least one of the Daily Bruin reporters went to the hospital with injuries after the assault.

Chris was shook. Not only because the victims of the attack included student journalists, like himself . But because he actually knew some of the people at the Daily Bruin.

Chris:

You know, I’ve had conversations with ’em, shook their hands, exchanged business cards and things like that. You see things online all the time that are, are awful and, but when you see it happen to someone that you even in passing have had a conversation with, that’s, you know, it sits more on your heart and it just kind of makes you realize like, wow, that is what’s happening, you know, to people that I know that have been in my circle before.

Zaidee:

It scared Chris. And he immediately started thinking…

Chris:

okay, hey, if something does happen here, then I’m not gonna let anyone go out on their own. We have to, we have to do a buddy system now. Um, I want everyone to write, you know, our advisor’s phone number on their arm, et cetera.

It’s so easy to get a mob mentality in those big situations like that, that, you know, people aren’t always thinking entirely rationally and they’re gonna follow what everyone else is doing around them.

I understand how that, you know, it’s so easy to become a victim of that, like they were. And uh, that was something that I, I couldn’t get outta my head for weeks really, or for days.

Zaidee:

This spring, as a wave of protests on university campuses called for a ceasefire in Gaza and for universities to divest from companies with military ties to Israel, student journalists have emerged as crucial sources of information.

At some schools student journalists are the only regular source of news on campus grounds, especially when campuses like USC have shut down to non-students. In some cases  they’ve scooped mainstream media, with the most accurate or up-to-date coverage, sometimes round-the-clock.

Increasingly, student journalists are doing this work under threats of arrest and violence.

My colleagues Betty Márquez Rosales and Mallika Seshadri wrote about this for EdSource.

Zaidee:

Hi, Betty and Mallika.

Betty Márquez Rosales:

Hi Zaidee.

Mallika Seshadri:

Hi.

Zaidee:

So how did you get the idea to write about student journalists?

Betty:

As a lot of other people, I have been on the news just, just checking what’s coming out of, uh, university campuses on social media. And I happened to be scrolling through Twitter, scrolling through X.

So I came across this post by Catherine Hamilton. She’s a reporter with the Daily Bruin, UCLA student newspaper. And she was talking about how she had just left the hospital because she had been harassed and, and attacked by a group of people on her campus who were counter protesting. And so I really started to think about, um, what these student protests have meant for journalists on university campuses.

So we went back and started talking about how to cover this, right? And it really felt important to bring in multiple voices from across different university campuses. And so Malika came on board to help with reaching out. And, you know, she was able to reach, uh, a few folks over at uc, Berkeley at, uh, Sacramento State. Um, we spoke with someone at UCLA, someone at, uh, Cal Poly Humboldt. And also someone at Sonoma State. And really trying to understand what those students and, and really what those journalists were, were experiencing on their campus, how they had been reporting on the protests.

Zaidee:

What did you two learn from reporting this story? And maybe this time we could start with Mallika.

Mallika:

I think just the, frankly, the role and the importance of student journalism, I think very often student journalists are kind of set aside, um, are seen as not being as capable, as seen as not being the source of a lot of news that we actually do get. And I think this is a perfect example of a case where a student newspaper or a series of student newspapers is really kind of on the front lines and really, um, is kind of the original source and really a lot of the reporting that we do see in, in national publications does start out at these levels. And, and that very much includes student reporters, they’re the ones on campus every day, day in, day out, living, breathing it.

Betty:

One thing that really stood out to me is that these journalists really understood the position they’re in. They, they really understand that they have a very important perspective to add the reporting of this news. One of the Daily Bruins reporters. Um, he said, we have a job to do as student journalists. I like to say we’re not student journalists, we’re journalists, right? They, they are expected to adhere to the principles of journalism, whether they’re starting, uh, to report or whether maybe they were already part of their high school papers, whether they’ve been doing this for a long time. And something else that stood out, uh, from my conversation with a Cal Poly Humboldt student, um, he said that because he’s a student reporting, um, on the protest, he understood certain aspects that perhaps national reporters might not understand about his campus. Right? He, I, I don’t know what the campus looks like, so if I were to report on it, I don’t understand those nuances, but he said because of the way that our campus is built, um, that actually made it harder for police to, to arrest some of the protestors. And that is likely what prolonged their, you know, their ability to crack down on the student protestors and break up the, the protest. And that wasn’t a nuance that he was really seeing in a lot of the more mainstream news stories.

Mallika :

You know, for a lot of the students, like one of the students that I spoke with said the protestors are also their classmates. And I think especially in a situation where topics are as vulnerable, as sensitive, there’s so many wounds that kind of run really deep. Um, I think it’s a really special opportunity for student journalists to be able to, to kind of give those perspectives and have that kind of almost implicit trust built with sources in a way that sometimes when you’re not a student journalist or you don’t have those relationships with sources, it can take a long time to really garner that trust and, and be able to kind of give voice to or amplify a voice, I should say, um, to those communities.

Zaidee:

Chris Woodard, the managing editor at the State Hornet, says the student paper has covered important stories on campus before.

Chris:

We’ve had, um, really bad anti-Semitic incidents where people, we found swastikas across campus. Um, we, you know, we’ve had professors accepting bribes for grades, and so we’ve broke some really incredible stories here that have been stressful to deal with.

Zaidee:

But this time is different. He and his fellow reporters are acutely aware of how many eyes have been on their coverage of the protests.

Chris:

But this is, the stress here is so much different because we have the entire national audience kind of funneled into our situation. And then there’s also a hundred different other situations that are being compared to. So a lot of people are looking at us not necessarily like, oh, here’s some Sacramento State news. It’s, here’s some world news from Sacramento State, if that makes sense.

Zaidee:

It’s even more stressful because students also have to, well, study.

Chris:

We are trying to pass our finals and, you know, we’re trying to make sure we graduate or, you know, don’t have to take summer school, et cetera. So it’s, it’s been a weird kind of push and pull of like, okay, like, do I want to spend all my time and energy being the number one news source today, or do I wanna be a student?

Zaidee:

It’s a juggling act, one that sometimes requires quick thinking. At one point Chris found himself in line for an interview at the encampment alongside a half dozen reporters from other publications. He needed to get the story… but he also needed to get to class.

Chris:

And, you know, uh, the, the reporter kind of craze, everyone raises their hand and kind of running up to the front. Um, and so they started one interview and I was kind of trying to sort of body block some other journalists, you know, and kind of get in their way.

Zaidee:

So  Chris decided it might be better just to talk with the other reporters.

Chris :

And it’s like, Hey guys, if you guys don’t mind, I have to go to class right now. I’m actually skipping class, so please, if you don’t mind, can I, can I do the next interview? And I will make it quick as quick as I can, and then I’ll get outta here.

And, um, you know, two of them said, oh yeah, that’s fine. And then, but this look on their face was kind of funny ’cause I could tell that, um, they were kinda like, oh my God. Like, you know, that’s something you have to deal with that we, you know, we’re on the clock.

Zaidee:

They let him go ahead — and he made it to class 20 minutes late.

He’s proud of the work he and other students have done.

Chris:

The small team that we had, I think all of us have really come out of this as better journalists. We have been the ones really breaking the news faster than any of the organizations here in Sacramento.

We’ve scooped the Sacramento Bee and all of the TV stations here in Sacramento repeatedly. Um, you know, they’ve come up to us like, dude, we’ve been trying to interview the president forever. How’d you guys do it? And I was like, well, well, I kept knocking on his door , you know, and then finally he opened it.

Zaidee:

So Betty and Mallika, some of these student journalists have actually ended up in dangerous situations, right?

Betty:

It certainly seems that there are higher stakes when it comes to reporting on these student protests. Right now on university campuses, we’ve been hearing of multiple instances where student journalists have been threatened with arrest, whether that’s at Columbia University, whether that’s at UCLA, um, I believe it’s also happened at USC. Across the board really that has seemed quite common, um, and they’ve also been harassed and attacked. And even at universities where student journalists have not experienced this, they are hyper aware of the fact that this is a, a potential, um, a situation that they might end up finding themselves in. And I think Malika can speak a bit more on that.

Mallika :

Yeah, I mean, I think, like you said, it definitely has had a big ripple, I think in a couple ways. I mean, I think first of all, some of the students I spoke with at uc, Berkeley talked about the fact that one night they, they were anticipating actually a raid at the encampment and it didn’t end up happening. But I think, you know, right off the heels of UCLA, I think it felt raw. And I think there was a sense of students feeling for the students at UCLA and and feeling in solidarity in support of them even issuing an editorial, um, in support of them at the daily cal. But at the same time, the sort of sense that this could maybe happen to them too, um, and kind of almost seeing a worst case scenario play out before their eyes, before they potentially then go on to the field.

Um, and then I think the other sort of thing is, you know, even at campuses like Sac State, you know, there were students who talked about it, just feeling kind of like a bit of a gut punch where it does feel closer to home when it’s kind of one of your sister campuses. And at the end of the day, you’re all student reporters and you’re all kind of in your, in your own respective newsrooms, but you’re all kind of in it together in a sense. And I guess to see that happening to your peers who are in their late teens, early twenties and just starting out in journalism can be kind of, as some of them said, kind of a bit wrenching and a bit challenging to sort of reckon with the field in general.

Zaidee:

Unlike at other campuses, student reporters at Sacramento State haven’t faced much aggression. After the attack on UCLA journalists, though, Chris says everyone was on edge.

Chris :

Everyone kind of had their hand head on a swivel just looking for any signs of some sort of, some sort of counter protest that might may have happened. That extra just kind of feeling in the air, uh, combined with, you know, I had two essays due the next week. Um, I have like four or five reporters asking me 10 questions every 20 minutes about, Hey, who should we talk to next? What’s, what’s gonna happen here? Uh, so-and-so’s not answering my phone calls. Who should I talk to instead? And I’m trying to kind of balance all of it at once, and in my head I was like, okay, I’m gonna get home. And that’ll all kind of turn off for a moment.

Zaidee:

But it didn’t turn off.

Chris:

I got home and it all just kind of, you know, I wasn’t really in the public anymore, so I didn’t have to show, you know, the smile on my face. And so yeah, when I got home that day, I just kind of just sat down for a moment and just, you know, cried and let it out.

Zaidee:

Mallika, how are student journalists staying safe in all of this? I know you have some experience with this, because you worked at the Daily Californian when you were at UC Berkeley.

Mallika :

So the UC Berkeley student newspaper, the Daily Californian, which is also just, it’s an independent newsroom and also the, the paper of record for the city too. Um, they, because of Berkeley’s history of protest almost have guidelines that are sort of passed down through the editors. Um, the managing editors in particular. Um, so Daily Cal has always been really big about sending off reporters in pairs, um, always implementing sort of a buddy system. They used to encourage reporters to also carry milk if there were concerns of tear gassing, encouraging reporters to wear things that they could run in, have their press passes, things like that.

Zaidee:

Is there anything that student reporters are asking for in those editorials or that you as reporters, um, think could happen differently on the part of universities, um, to help protect free speech and help protect student journalists?

Betty:

This is something that they should be able to freely do it, it’s their job as well. They are journalists. They’re trying to make sure that there is record, um, accurate record of what is happening on their university campuses. And so to be able to do that job, I, I do think that maybe it depends on campus by campus, depending on the needs and on the situation that is arising on each individual campus. But there should be a conversation among university campuses, uh, really discussing how do we make sure that these student journalists are able to do their job as safely as they possibly can.

The Daily Bruin mentioned that they were promised a safe room to be able to report, um, and, and go to during the protests. And when they tried to enter or access that safe room during the night that they were attacked, they were locked out of it. And so they really weren’t able to get to a safe place. And so ultimately that, that safety wasn’t provided by the university. UCLA did not respond to questions regarding that.

Zaidee:

How do you think the experience of covering these protests and counterprotests has helped prepare student journalists for their future careers?

Betty:

You know, one of the, one of the reporters I spoke with said, watch out for student journalists. And I think that’s spot on, right? They are the best equipped to be able to give us the context, the nuances of these protests and what it means for campus life.

Someone over at USC, she mentioned that some of the reporters that she has been working with over the last year, they kept reporting despite their requirements being over, they no longer are earning credits for the reporting that they are doing today because their, their work is done right. But they are continuing to report on the protests and on the arrests of students and faculty members because they are driven by their sense of journalistic duty. And she mentioned that a lot of them have really learned how to keep digging deeper, keep following up even more, really questioning, uh, the, the decision making of administration of the folks who are making the decisions about how to or what to do regarding student protests and, and really going deeper into those basic aspects of journalism. As she said, you know, they might have not had the opportunity to report on something this deep and this big, um, until much further down in their career.

Zaidee:

Malika, do you wanna add anything?

Mallika :

I think the main thing I would add is just that, you know, we talk a lot about the role of student journalists. And I think the best way in a sense of supporting them and the work that they’re doing, which is truly important is just frankly reading student newspapers. They’ve really just shown kind of what an important news source they are, um, on just the day in and day out. And their coverage has just been really incredible and thorough and the sense of obligation and duty they bring to their work has been really amazing and admirable to sort of be privy to.

Zaidee:

It’s no secret that journalism can be a tough job, and even a dangerous one. Chris Woodard says working at The State Hornet at Sacramento State during this time has given him a closer look at the hate that is sometimes directed at journalists.

Chris :

For the first time, uh, you know, I got emails, someone calling me anti-Semitic, uh, which is very ironic ’cause the first semester I had here at the State Hornet, like I said, we’ve, we uncovered swastikas on campus. And I, and I covered that extensively.

And so, you know, to kind of have that full circle moment of, uh, in my small career here at the state Hornet, uh, was eyeopening. And, uh, just kind of seeing the attacks and the, uh, yeah, the attacks and sort of the, the hate toward journalists, um, being a little bit more on bigger display reminded me of kind of how dangerous this can be, especially just how dangerous this year has been for journalists.

Zaidee:

But at the same time, he says, the experience has also revealed how important journalism is, and how much it’s needed.

Chris :

I really, really love seeing the, the embrace of student journalism that has happened across the country. A lot of journalists that are professional have kind of expressed their gratitude for student journalists over this last, uh, month. And, you know, we’ve seen open letters by like CMA and the Society of Professional Journalists that are saying, Hey, like, embrace student journalism and protect their rights the same way you were protecting any other journalist.

Zaidee:

As for his future in journalism….

Chris :

This is a rollercoaster ride, honestly. It’s been like, okay, this, this sucks, you know, and then it goes back, oh, this is amazing. We’re making a huge difference. And then it’s back to like, oh, I don’t know, I’m scared. Um, but at the same time, I will say I love the chaos. I find comfort in the chaos. So it has actually made me fall in love with journalism even more.

CREDITS:

Thank you for listening to this week’s episode of Education Beat: Getting to the heart of California schools. A production of EdSource.

You can find links to Betty and Mallika’s story in our podcast notes and at EdSource dot org.

Our producer is Coby McDonald.

Special thanks to our guest Chris Woodard and reporters Betty Márquez Rosales and Mallika Seshadri.

Our CEO is Anne Vasquez.

Our managing editor is Adam Eisenberg.

Our theme music is from Blue Dot Sessions.

This episode was brought to you by the ECMC Foundation and the Stupski Foundation.

I’m Zaidee Stavely. Join us next week. And subscribe so you won’t miss an episode.