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How College Journalists Are Reshaping Media
The future of journalism is being written at America’s college newspapers
In November 2019, former U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions came to Northwestern University to make a speech he called “The Real Meaning of the Trump Agenda.” Sessions, who had been invited by the College Republicans, had been out of office for a year. But he was still an infamous figure of the Trump administration, an anti-migrant, anti-asylum, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-marijuana henchman who introduced “kids in cages” to American history.
His presence at a liberal school like Northwestern was bound to be viewed as a provocation. One student Facebook group called for a “Night of Action” protest in a parking lot outside Lutkin Hall, where Sessions was speaking. Another group of about 150 students went up to the building itself, banging on doors and windows and trying to make enough noise to disrupt the speech. One student broke a window with a skateboard, and others forced their way inside and were thrown out by campus police. The protesters shouted slogans like “I-C-E, K-K-K, how many kids have you killed today?” and “Fuck Jeff Sessions!” Sessions’ supporters countered with chants of “We’re not racists!” and “Trump 2020! Make America great again!” as they were escorted from the event by the police.
The Daily Northwestern, the school’s student newspaper, was there to cover it. A photographer snapped photos of the police skirmishing with the protesters and posted the pictures to Twitter. Reporters used a student directory to contact activists who attended the protests and interview them. The paper published two articles the next day.
One article focused on what happened inside the building. There were interviews with people in the crowd, which included pro-Sessions College Republicans, anti-Sessions students mostly intent on heckling him, and members of a “support group” that a representative from the school’s Division of Student Affairs said was supposed to create “an environment where we are listening and engaging and understanding different points of view.” The second focused on what was happening outside. Unlike other, nonstudent publications, the Daily Northwestern didn’t conflate the “Night of Action” protest in the parking lot, which was large and…
