Freedom of the press, a First Amendment constitutional right, is under attack at Indiana University Bloomington. The university fired Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush — who had been with the university since 2018 — for refusing to censor the staff of the Indiana Daily Student (IDS), IU’s student newspaper.

Later, when the editors asked that he be reinstated, administrators cut the printed edition of their homecoming guide instead of providing clear answers or reasons.

These actions stem from the administration’s request — or demand — to Rodenbush that the Oct. 16 edition of the publication’s newspaper be “… nothing but information about homecoming — no other news at all, and particularly no traditional front page news coverage,” according to an email sent from Rodenbush to the IDS editors on Oct. 7, following the request.

While that week’s newspaper was their annual homecoming guide, the attempt to control the paper’s content violates the constitutional right of freedom of the press, but also the publication’s own Student Media Charter, which states that the IDS editor staff has full editorial control over what goes in their publication, without prior review by any administrative members.

The charter also states that this policy was approved by the Indiana University trustees in 1969 to protect the 150-year-old publication’s independence and freedom.

In an Oct. 9 meeting, Rodenbush informed the administration that he would not be enforcing this demand as it was censorship. The administration ignored him.

The IDS’s seven-person editor staff reached out to many of the university’s Media School administrators, asking for clarification and for them to drop the demand. Instead, the administration fired Rodenbush — “effective immediately.”

The termination letter read, “Your lack of leadership and ability to work in alignment with the University’s direction for the Student Media Plan is unacceptable.”

We, The Sunflower, condemn this attack on the IDS and more broadly on student media. This issue is paramount to student media across the nation because there’s never a guarantee that this won’t happen to us.

The Sunflower’s relationship with university administration has had its ups and downs. For example, in times of big news or controversy, the administrators prefer not to do interviews with us.

Following the allegations of plagiarism against Wichita State President Richard Muma last year, he refused to do an interview or provide comment to us on the matter. Likewise, many staff members have increasingly declined or hesitated to speak to Sunflower reporters, directing us instead to the Office of Strategic Communications. But recently, with all the sudden changes in diversity, equity and inclusion, Wichita State Provost Monica Lounsbery has communicated with us what the changes mean for the university for the most part.

Not so long ago, in 2018, a conflict between The Sunflower, the university administration and Student Government Association came to a head when SGA attempted to cut The Sunflower’s funding. They also shut journalists out of student fee deliberations, violating the Kansas Open Meetings Act. Administrators at the time were frequently upset with The Sunflower’s reporting, mostly about the developing Innovation Campus. Former Editor-in-Chief Chance Swaim was referred to as “damaged goods” by the former Vice President of Strategic Communications, Lou Heldman.

The truth of college journalism is that threats and attempts of censorship can happen anywhere. The scales of tolerance can be so easily tipped depending on that year’s coverage and the individuals in power.

Censoring student publications hinders the ability of students to receive accurate and timely news. Without college newspapers and websites, students would have to rely only on press releases and would probably rarely hear the truth behind the polished messages and a variety of perspectives.

The IDS lost the ability to print their newspaper — a newspaper that around 200 Indiana University students pour work into each week to bring news to their campus. They lost their director, a supporter and advocate for their publication — a man who stood up to censorship and paid the price with his job. They were denied a right provided by the U.S. Constitution — the freedom of speech and press.

The Sunflower stands with the Indiana Daily Student and Rodenburg, because the university administration committed censorship and an unlawful firing. When one student newspaper is under attack, we’re all under attack.