Overview

Journalists are trained to tell the stories of others and leave themselves out of their writing. Student journalists are no different. They spend their days on their college newspaper writing about what happens to others, especially when what is happening involves protests, sit-ins, riots, hunger strikes and other unrest on the very campuses where they also attend school. Now some of these former student reporters and editors tell their own stories of some of the challenges all student journalists face in reporting events that most administrators would rather see not covered at all. For some, this is the first time the stories of what happened in the newsrooms and behind the scenes will appear in print. Some of the issues they discuss include censorship, the role of the newspaper as the conscience of the community, objective and activist journalism and the challenges of reporting crises. The protests covered here represent the many concerns college student protesters have tackled through the decades: integration in 1962, the free speech movement of 1964, racial issues and the Vietnam War in 1968 and 1970, and continuing racial issues in the present. Many of these former student journalists look back decades to their work in the 1960s. Some discuss a more recent protest. Looking back, they admit they might have done things differently if they had to do it again, yet all are fiercely proud of the work they did in recording the first version of history.

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9781498541152

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Reviews

Thoroughly researched and well contextualized, this book provides a riveting account of student journalism during periods of profound political and social unrest. Using archival sources and expertly conducted interviews, Armstrong uncovers the work of young journalists challenged to cover desegregation, freedom of speech, campus protests and deadly violence- all while going to school and facing the reactions of peers and administrators. How Student Journalists Report Campus Unrest should be on the bookshelves of all journalism faculty, student media advisers, and readers who enjoy firsthand accounts of courage amid crisis. -- Tracy Lucht, Iowa State University Students' right to free speech is an ever-pervasive issue, and even in 2017 the New Voices campaign calls for student journalists' protection.Kaylene Armstrong's How Student Journalists Report Campus Unrest highlights historical coverage from student newspapers at different schools that came under scrutiny from both campus community members and from farther afield. It also notes the distinct entanglements of the student journalist balancing classes and reporting while being a part of the campus life they cover. An engaging read, Armstrong's work tells today's student journalists about difficulties their predecessors faced, and how they handled those issues. It is also an inherent call to action, asking students journalists to take pride in their work by showing them that quality campus reporting has impact beyond the walls of the institution and pushing them to recognize their contributions to the first draft of history. -- Kirstie Hettinga, California Lutheran University

Author Information

Kaylene Dial Armstrong is assistant professor at Northwestern Oklahoma State University.

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