Fight for the right

In my brief career as a journalist, I’ve realized that media are often misunderstood. Journalists frequently take heat from the community simply for doing their job, especially when they have to go against popular attitudes. But it’s not journalists’ job to succumb to social pressure; their job is to report the news of their community as accurately and thoroughly as possible. In fact, as everyone learns in grade school, they have a constitutional right to cover their community. \nTo be quite honest, journalism is not an easy profession, nor does it yield much gratitude or cash. However, those who practice this profession – myself included – take it very seriously and will go to great lengths to protect our right to do so.\nThe Student Alliance for National Security scheduled Meghan O’Sullivan, President Bush’s former deputy national security advisor, to speak Tuesday evening in Whittenberger Auditorium. The group sent a press release a few days before the event, which stated O’Sullivan’s speech would be “free and open to the public,” but it would be “off-the-record for the press.” By accepting this stipulation, we would hinder our ability to thoroughly and accurately cover a public event.\n“Off-the-record” is a request from a source that a journalist can choose to accept or deny. If the journalist denies, the source may then choose what, if any, information to share with the journalist. After our staff consulted with the Student Press Law Center, the Poynter Institute, a lawyer, a media law professor and student media advisers, I called the event’s organizers to tell them that we would cover the event but we wouldn’t accept the stipulation that O’Sullivan’s comments would be off-the-record.\nAfter I spoke with various members of Student Alliance for National Security, the members chose to cancel the event because we refused to not quote the speaker. \nThe IDS encouraged the group to continue to host the event. After all, anyone could attend the event and publicize O’Sullivan’s comments. Someone could’ve brought in a recording device and posted the whole speech online. And I’m sure some students were taking notes for class assignments. So why would the group and the speaker believe the press shouldn’t document the event, especially after they sent a press release and held it publicly?\nThe organizers tried to get the reporter to not take notes in exchange for a brief interview with O’Sullivan after the event, during which she would relay the printable parts of her lecture. But again, that hindered our ability and our legal right to fully cover the public event. After we declined this settlement, the group’s organizers decided to cancel the event.\nI wish the situation wouldn’t have ended this way. O’Sullivan probably had wonderful insight to share, and if I had had the night off, I would’ve loved to go to the event. But sometimes, you have to speak up and go against what’s popular to defend your rights. And in this case, someone took away my staff members’ right and ability to do their job, so I had to fight the battle.