Earlier this week, we commented on the ongoing events at Yale University and the University of Missouri, where students have protested administrators for their handling of race-related issues. At Missouri, President Timothy Wolfe stepped down Monday in the face of pushback against his response to a series of alleged racist incidents. In the midst of important discussions regarding race on Missouri’s campus, a new topic has come into the fold: press freedom.
The same day Wolfe resigned, a video surfaced showing protesters restricting a student photographer’s access to a public area of campus, according to The New York Times. Tim Tai, working on a freelance assignment for ESPN, was trying to take photos of a small tent city that protesters against campus racism had created on a quad. The protesters blocked his view, argued with him and ultimately pushed him away. Among them was Melissa Click, an assistant professor of mass media, who grabbed at a journalist’s video camera and attempted to remove reporters from the scene. While she continues to teach in the communication school, she has since resigned from her courtesy appointment with the Missouri School of Journalism, according to the Columbia Missourian.
It is important for journalists to exercise discretion over what material is private and what is newsworthy — and it is understandable for individuals who are not in the public eye to expect a reporter to respect requests for privacy. But in this case, the event in question and location of the protest had reached a level of publicity that demanded coverage. Tai told the Times, “We’re documenting historic events with our photographs, and when people are crying and hugging when Wolfe resigns, it becomes a personal issue that people all over the country can connect with.” It would be near impossible to argue these events are not a matter of public interest.
The complicating factor in this case is not just an issue of privacy but also of safe spaces for students. The protesters noted the need for white individuals to respect black spaces. Students from Concerned Student 1950, an organization aimed at spreading awareness of campus racism, took to Twitter writing, “We truly appreciate having our story told, but this movement isn’t for you” and “Black people and our true allies, we love you and will continue to fight.”
These tweets misunderstand Tai and reporters’ roles in these events. As a reporter, Tai should not have been expected to be an ally in the movement; his duty was to provide the community with relevant, needed information. Reporters’ goals and the goals of their subjects will not always align. Journalists have an obligation to distinguish between private and public events and spaces, but if the event or space is decidedly public, there is nothing unethical about reporting on it. Tai’s presence at the tent city was not a sign of support or antagonism to the movement — it was a work assignment.
Tai was not only within his rights to document the protesters; he was fulfilling a journalistic responsibility to report on their actions.
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