Freedom of the press has been on the decline. With free speech protections being attacked across North America, the precedent set by the United States has enacted a ripple effect across media organizations throughout the region. Political ideologies are creeping into independent journalism and to some degree, the future of journalism feels uncertain. At their best, journalists seek to inform and serve the people. Grassroots reporters would traditionally publish stories that reflect the lived experiences and opinions of their communities. Nowadays, the profession of journalism has gradually become an extension of elite institutions. Even while information has become more accessible than ever before, we have slowly become oblivious to the happenings around us. Now, as funding to local journalism initiatives dwindles, many local papers are virtually defunct.
Despite this, student newspapers remain essential to informing the public on local happenings. At universities across Canada and beyond, students have historically used their voices to interrogate structures of power and delve into the nitty-gritty of local politics. These papers have critically touched on topics that city-wide news neglects.
In the US, student journalism is another pillar of expression that has come under attack from the Trump administration. As the GOP’s assault on free speech has prompted the restructuring and silencing of large media personalities and organizations, students have continued to pursue candid journalism. Nonetheless, federal crackdowns on student journalism have persisted. Journalists at Columbia University’s Spectator have been issued suspensions for covering campus protests. Indiana University notably fired its the Indiana Daily Student’s student media advisor in an effort to censor the paper’s political content. Journalists at the University of Pennsylvania’s Daily Pennsylvanian have camped out overnight to ensure that they would be able to cover university issues after administrative pushback, such as the student protests against the genocide in Gazstudenjt newsa, police activity on campus, and administrative budget conflicts.
Student journalists continue to form a vital component of the reporting ecosystem around universities. Despite the rise of social media, especially in the post-pandemic era, student-run traditional news media has proven its continued importance. For example, at Fanshawe College in London, Ontario, the local campus paper saw a nearly 30 per cent increase in pickup rates over the past four years. As Barbie Zelizer for The Philadelphia Inquirer notes, undergraduate journalists “expend boundless energy to get the facts right.” In a new era of journalism, where censorship runs rampant and political threats are abundant, yet student journalists continue to move forward. We must turn away from monopolized media organizations and uphold and return to our roots: driven by passionate students willing to fight oppressive political forces.
If you engage with student journalism, then you are making a difference by believing in the free exchange of ideas, in the right to inform the public of injustices, and in defending the truth, you are making a difference by engaging with student journalists.
Our publication serves to inform the student population and document campus stories and history. The Daily exists for and by the students of McGill University. This newspaper cannot achieve its goals without the contributions of our community, and the best way to do this is to get involved. Email one of us, pick up a pitch, or contribute your own ideas. The Daily is a platform to amplify your stories and your perspective. To fight the deterioration of engagement with student journalism is to engage in it yourself.