Columbia Student Journalists Became Our Only Access to Truth

WKCR radio and its reporters reminded us what great journalism looks like.

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People from my beloved network rallied around me from the start, and I recently received a few readers from my piece on the Grand Castle. I recognize there are many new subscribers I do not personally know, and to those subscribers, thank you for taking a chance on me.

Writers, and creatives in general, are often expected to produce work for free or at a discounted rate. No matter how established I am as a writer, that expectation has been a constant in my career. So, when my work is seen as something valuable from the start, it is one of the biggest compliments I can receive.

To everyone—thank you for seeing my work as valuable.

On Tuesday night, the world turned to Columbia’s student journalists.

Since April 18, United States college students have used their collective power to occupy university campuses, protesting Israel’s war on Gaza. Their demands varied by institution but they made their message clear: Divest from Israel.

As days went by, tensions grew.

Within this period, universities like Columbia doubled down and President Joe Biden signed a $94 billion foreign aid bill that included military aid to Israel, calling it a “good day for world peace.” For context, Israel has received more U.S. military aid than any other country since World War II by a significant amount.

Graphic pulled from this Washington Post article

Gen Z has learned this information and more—and they’re pissed. This is the same generation that has minimal trust in U.S. institutions like Congress, the news, the presidency and large tech companies.

On Tuesday, Gen Z’s mistrust was proven right.

Columbia ordered a police raid to violently break up student encampments and protesters, resulting in 282 arrests.

Journalistic greatness

Before moving forward, it’s important to share why Columbia’s response, particularly to journalists, is so significant.

Columbia is the university for journalism. The school was founded by Joseph Pulitzer, whose prize you may have heard of. In fact, the 2024 Pulitzer Prize Winners and Finalists will be announced Monday, days apart from Columbia’s decision to remove reporters from its premises and threaten its own student reporters with arrest. More on that in a minute.

Obtaining a master’s degree from Columbia Journalism School can cost an estimated $121,290 and the program runs nine-and-a-half months. To offer perspective, I’ve never made more than $30,000 a year as a full-time journalist.

My introduction to Columbia Journalism School was How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days. I know. In my defense, my post-secondary plan was to become a marine biologist, making journalism schools irrelevant at the time.

I clearly did not become a marine biologist.

Halfway through my freshman year, I declared a major via lazy decision-making. I narrowed down topics based on what I could do best, not what interested me.

Which major is least challenging?

Teachers and assignments flashed through my mind and all directions pointed toward English. I bought into the myth that English majors’ only route to career success was teaching. I didn’t want to become a teacher, so I thought about more tangible ways to use my skills.

Bada-bing, bada-boom! Journalism!

While I wasn’t too eager to dive into my future profession, I learned to love it once good grades started rolling in. Ah! Haha! The plan worked.

It was journalism school where I learned about the craft and its history, including Columbia’s history and impact on the profession. So, it was surprising to see reports that the university was blocking media from reporting on the police raid.

The only connection to truth

Columbia issued a shelter-in-place order as NYPD officers assembled. WKCR’s student reporters later described these orders as ‘vague,’ ‘confusing’ and ‘a safety risk.’

Videos and images exploded on social media, bringing to mind the dystopian content we consume for fun.

Soon, reports surfaced on Twitter that Columbia barred journalists from its campus.

WKCR’s student reporters jumped into action.

The only reporters on the ground, they had a responsibility and took that responsibility seriously. Broadcasting from Pulitzer Hall, they checked in with students and dispatched their own reporters to the scene. Meanwhile, tens of thousands turned to WKCR for information, knowing it was the only credible source.

Within minutes, streamers crashed the WKCR site. Reporters encouraged local listeners to turn on FM radio and established a backup plan for listeners to stream through a downloadable app.

I was one of the tens of thousands attempting to tune in. Even with a backup plan, the audience was still too powerful for the little station that could. Listening to the broadcast, I had to piece together reports, hearing voices tune in and out.

By continuing their broadcast, the students were putting themselves in danger. Listeners quickly learned if they left Pulitzer Hall, they’d be arrested.

Undeterred, they continued to report on the scene unfolding.

"If they leave Pulitzer Hall, they will be arrested. ... No accommodations have been made for student journalists." —Columbia student reporter

Listening to the broadcast, fear is evident in their voices. Fear that so much is weighing on their shoulders, fear for their future, fear for their safety.

“It’s not the easiest time right now,” one said. “It’s very unsettling.”

A new era for journalism

For hours, I only cared about the WKCR journalists.

As the night went on, I recognized what an extreme act of journalism these students were carrying out. “Please let them be safe, please let them be safe,” I repeated in my head to nobody in particular.

My anxiety kept me up and tied my muscles in knots. I found myself taking a hot shower at 11:45 p.m. to loosen my tense body. Will we witness an execution? I wouldn’t put it past the police. Are heroic acts of journalism worth a student’s life?

My thoughts then turned to all the journalism students I’ve worked with over the years. I winced thinking of the dozens of young adults (now very much adult adults) I took under my wing. What would they do? What would I do?

It’s easy to say I’d do the right thing, it’s not as easy to act. I began to question my own moral compass as a one-time journalism student and member of WCKS, Grand Valley’s student radio station. But I was quickly reminded why quality journalism is worth risking one’s safety.

On CNN, Anderson Cooper was reporting that some protesters were not Columbia students. The students hit back at this claim, confirming all protesters were Columbia students and reminding the world they were the only ones holding the correct information.

This isn’t the first blunder CNN made concerning Israel, actually.

After the Oct. 7 attacks carried out by Hamas, multiple media outlets reported on horrific imagery—without proof of the imagery.

From Al Jazeera:

“…investigation by the I-Unit, which examined hours of footage from CCTV, dashcams, personal phones and headcams of killed Hamas fighters, has also found that many of the stories that came out in the days following the attack were false.”

CNN reporter Sara Sidner was one of many journalists who reported false claims as facts. A day after CNN reported the claims, Sidner redacted the report and apologized, saying, “I needed to be more careful with my words and I am sorry.”

What happens when you can’t trust any major news source?

People searching for legitimate journalism instead turned to those on the ground, uploading proof online via photos and recordings on their smartphones. Instead of turning to major news outlets reporting from the sidelines Tuesday night, we put our trust in students. And they delivered.

There’s a heavy seriousness in knowing you have only one direct line to the truth. We are often privileged to view a story from many angles. On Tuesday, those angles were ripped from us via a police state. We only had one option.

As much as I love journalism, I’m currently the angriest I have ever been over the profession. I’m angry that reporters risk their lives for pennies, I’m angry about the lies, and I’m angry that conglomerates have just gotten bigger, which means more control from the top.

As a journalism instructor, I share these realities with the students I work with. In my transparency, I also give them faith that they can make a difference with local reporting. Lately, though, I’ve struggled to pass along that faith, having lost so much myself.

In one night, the WKCR reporters resurrected some of that long-lost faith.

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