Authors: Mickey Huff
Censored 2012 (46 page)
Despite my presence as a journalist (I was a student at the Graduate School of Journalism at the time), a conduct panel found me responsible for violating the student code of conduct. The panel found that since there is no exception carved into the code for the student press, I should be held responsible for being inside.
My punishment? To research and develop a proposal that would protect the rights of journalists who may find themselves ensnared by the Office of Student Conduct for simply reporting about activities on campus.
Very few schools have codes that explicitly address the rights of the press. The University of Louisville seems to be one of the sole exceptions. Section Eight of the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities states:
A. The student press is free to deal openly, fearlessly, and responsibly with issues of interest and importance to the academic community. There shall be no prior approval of student press content by the University.
B. The student press is responsible for adhering to the canons of responsible journalism and for complying with the law. Student publications and broadcasts shall not publish libelous or slanderous matter, or any other content that violates the law.
C. All student publications and broadcasts shall explicitly state that the opinions expressed are not necessarily those of the University or its student body.
D. Students may not be disciplined by the University for their participation with the student press except for violations of University rules that are not inconsistent with the guarantees contained herein.
Although this Code is not ideal, it does provide a good starting point, and I was unable to find a better model at any other university in my research. Although this code might provide enough protection for students who work for the school newspaper, it contains a limited definition for student press that includes only a “student publication or a student broadcast.” It defines a “student publication” as one published by a student organization and a “student broadcast” as pertaining to a “student operated radio or television station.”
Under the Louisville Code, students’ blogs and even their freelance work for mainstream media outlets appear to be outside the protections offered.
But as anyone can be a blogger, the people in charge of creating these codes will probably have reservations about extending the above protections to the entire student body.
The code also requires that students adhere to “the canons of responsible journalism,” but since there is no licensing body for journalists, there is not always a clear answer as to what constitutes “responsible journalism.” We can look to the Code of Ethics by the Society of Professional Journalists for guidance, but its advice is not absolute.
At UC Berkeley, a disciplinary panel is made up of at least one student, a non-academic employee, and a faculty member who serves as chair. These panels are in no position to decide if a student’s behavior is within “the canons of responsible journalism.”
For example, in my hearing the panel found that I violated journalistic ethics because I spent part of my time inside the building working on a different reporting assignment that I was writing at the time for class.
“During the downtime while the batteries [were] being charged, a journalist covering the Wheeler Hall occupation would have resorted to other means of reporting the protest. Mr. Wolf could have interviewed the other student protestors by other means including pen and paper if necessary. Instead of continuing in the role of a journalist, Mr. Wolf (sic) he turned on his laptop and began to work on a writing assignment for one of his courses. At this point, Mr. Wolf transitioned from the role of a journalist to that of a student, and in this case, a student in protest within Wheeler Hall,” said optometry professor Robert DiMartino in his report.
The panel also found that I violated my journalistic responsibilities when I waved to a classmate through an open window as a crowd gathered below to listen to the protestors.
“He, in fact, by virtue of these actions, became a participant in the story, and as such, a student protestor. He was no longer detached and
objective, but allowed himself to become a part of the story he intended to cover,” said the report.
While objectively covering a story from a detached perspective might be the professor’s definition of responsible journalism, it is clearly not the only one.
In light of these weaknesses in the Louisville Code, I am writing to propose that the University of California Office of the President direct the Chancellor at each of its ten campuses to amend their respective Codes of Conduct in order to help ensure that the First Amendment rights of student journalists are protected, by adding the following language:
A. The University may not restrict students from freely publishing material in a lawful manner. While the University has a legitimate interest in reviewing academic work before it is published, this interest does not allow the University to exercise prior restraint over student media or prevent students from publishing their work independently.
B. Students are free to deal openly, fearlessly, and responsibly in reporting issues of interest and importance to the university community. Although student journalists are not given any special rights under the Code, it is understood that their reporting may take them to places and situations where they otherwise wouldn’t go. And while no student is allowed to violate trespassing rules or regulations, the Office of Student Conduct shall exercise reasonable discretion in pursuing cases where a student journalist’s alleged violation occurred while engaged in news gathering activities.
C. Students are responsible for complying with the law and should strive to adhere to the canons of responsible journalism. No student shall publish or broadcast libelous or slanderous matter, or any other content that violates the law. While the SPJ Code of Ethics may function as a baseline guide for responsible journalism practices, the Office of Student Conduct shall at no time make any determinations whether a student’s conduct was responsible journalism.
Their review should be limited to determining only if the student’s own actions violated the University Code of Conduct.
D. Students may not be disciplined by the University for their participation in journalistic activities except for violations of University rules that are not inconsistent with the guarantees contained herein.
E. In any cases the Office of Student Conduct elects to pursue in which a student has made an affirmative defense to the charges as a journalist, the Office will appoint a faculty member from either the Graduate School of Journalism or a faculty member from the Berkeley Law School with experience in First Amendment Law. In the event that a hearing is pursued, the Office of Student Conduct will appoint at least one student from either the Graduate School of Journalism or a member of the
Daily Californian
staff to also serve on the panel.
F. All proceedings under the auspices of the Office of Student Conduct shall be governed by the provisions of the California Shield Law and under the common-law “reporter’s privilege” as recognized by the courts of this state.
My case is not the first time in which the rights of student journalists have clashed with university administrators, and it certainly won’t be the last. But by implementing these changes to the code of conduct, the University of California and other institutions around the country can demonstrate their commitment to preserving the First Amendment’s rights guaranteed under the Constitution and a good faith effort in creating an atmosphere on campus that actively encourages a free and vibrant press.
JOSH WOLF
is a journalist, filmmaker, and a First Amendment activist. He spent 226 days in prison after he invoked the reporter’s privilege and refused to cooperate with a Federal Grand Jury’s investigation into a protest he reported on in 2005. After his release Wolf worked in print, radio, and television before attending the UC Berkeley Graduate School of Journalism where he focused on documentary film production. His thesis film
Police Tape
, which examines the hotly contested intersection between cops and cameras,
was awarded the Reva and David Logan Prize for Excellence in Investigative Reporting. Wolf graduated in May 2011 and is now working as a freelance journalist and documentary filmmaker.
KPFA FREE SPEECH RADIO PROGRAM
by Khalil Bendib
Voices of the Middle East and North Africa
is a nine-year-old radio program produced by a diverse group of individuals from various lands in West Asia and North Africa. Several essential features that distinguish this program from other Middle East-themed programs in North America are its scope, its authenticity, and its perspective.
Voices of the Middle East and North Africa
brings informed and authentic voices that take listeners beyond the headlines into the diverse and fascinating world of culture and politics of the Middle East and North Africa, exploring the complex web of class, gender, ethnic, religious, and regional differences distinguishing the ways of life, and political and ideological perspectives of people in that part of the world. Most importantly, thanks to the support of free speech radio KPFA, it does all this in a completely uncensored way, taking to task the myriad taboos that have seriously hampered any serious understanding of the Islamic world.
Through the lens of academic scholarship, grassroots activism, and artistic and intellectual expression, our radio program goes beyond the reductive stereotypes of the sword and the veil, and oil and war to help create a fuller understanding of that crucial region, deconstructing the artificial duality of the so-called “clash of civilizations” and bridging the chasm of misperceptions that exists between East and West.
It is our belief that humanizing and understanding others is essential to understanding ourselves, that factual information and education are indispensable in a democracy and that a truly informed public is our best defense against war and tyranny. Our nation’s increasing involvement in the Middle East and its dramatic consequences for all
have made it plain that we, the people, can no longer afford the luxury of indifference or ignorance in matters Middle Eastern.
A handful of other radio shows across the country focuses on the Middle East, but precious few are those that seriously cover the countries of North Africa as well, which are typically lumped into the broad category of “Middle East” and are not covered on a consistent basis. For the past nine years, our show has featured regular stories on the history of French colonialism in the Maghreb (Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia) and how that history has prefigured today’s Arab Awakening in Tunisia, Egypt, and neighboring countries. We are also the one radio program in the country to delve into the fascinating culture and history of the native Berber (Amazigh) people of the Maghreb, as well as the rich and long history of Jewish culture in the Middle East and North Africa, the Armenian genocide, and other important topics such as labor struggles and queer rights in those countries, among other topics.
Ours is a program which systematically gives a platform to native voices (thus the program’s title—
Voices of the Middle East and North Africa
) whether they are based within the countries themselves or from within the international diaspora. Our hosts and producers are all immigrants from the Middle East and North Africa (Iran, Kurdistan, Algeria, Morocco, Palestine, Iraq, Lebanon, and Egypt) and the overwhelming majority of our guests are scholars, activists, writers, poets, musicians, and artists with roots in the lands of the Middle East and North Africa. It is also our policy to always be inclusive and representative in terms of gender in each and every one of our programs.
Ours is an attractively produced and packaged, entertaining one-hour weekly program produced in the studios of Pacifica’s original station, KPFA 94.1 FM in Berkeley, the first ever listener-sponsored community radio station in the country. Another unique feature of our show is that it highlights, every single week, both the political and the cultural side by side, combining a public affair segment (politics, history,
and analysis) of approximately thirty minutes with an art and literature segment (cinema, theater, etc.) of approximately twenty-two minutes, complemented with short commentaries and a weekly community calendar of events. We strive to maintain a good geographic balance in every single program (if the public affairs is on Iran, for example, the arts and literature might be on Morocco, and so on), showcase the wide cultural diversity of the region, and appeal to a wide range of listeners from different backgrounds. This balance has been key to our success and popularity with the Northern California and Western Florida (Tampa) listening audiences.