Student journalists serve a vital role in universities across the United States by serving as a watchdog over university officials. But what happens when universities try to silence these voices?

College media outlets face censorship of all kinds. According to The Foundation for Individual Rights in Education, there are multiple reported cases of censorship of collegiate student media throughout the United States. 

Recently, The Bulletin at Emporia State University faced this kind of censorship. The Bulletin’s printed issue was covered up by file folders over the front page story on Friday, April 15.   

In The Bulletin’s Facebook post regarding the issue they stated, “It looks like somebody in the Memorial Union doesn’t like our front page this week. It’s a violation of the First Amendment to tamper with our newspaper distribution.” 

The story details a former Emporia State student who dropped out of college in the Spring of 2018 due to mental health concerns. Emporia State sued the student for $10,000 dollars to collect debt from unpaid tuition and fees. Emporia State then used a debt collection agency to collect a 25% wage garnishment.  

Student journalism censorship is a trend that many colleges have seen.

In 2018, The Butler Lantern at Butler Community College had 415 newspapes stolen off their racks after they published news about a former Butler football player who was charged with capital murder after a shooting that happened due to a robbery. 

A Butler student athlete was caught on a security camera taking papers off the racks. He said that he felt like the papers shouldn’t be there because of the news regarding the former student athlete. 

The University Press at Florida Atlantic University have experienced censorship numerous times. In 2019, stacks of papers were stolen after The University Press published news about rape  accusations against a FAU quarterback. 

This is only a handful of censorship issues student journalists have faced across the United States.

Student journalists are protected by the first amendment — freedom of the press. By censoring news someone might not like, it’s directly violating the first amendment.

It may not be proven that the reason behind the file folders was to cover up the front page story, but it does imply that someone that works for the university or a student from the university didn’t want the university to look bad.

The Bulletin did their job in accurately reporting major news from the university.. The reporter made sure to give both the university and the student an opportunity to use their voice. She also provided clear statistics and facts from credible resources.

A college media outlet’s job is not to make the university look good. That would be public relations, not journalism. A college media outlet’s job is to report and tell the truth accurately and fairly.

Journalism matters and plays a significant role in universities, workplaces, governments, athletics and so much more. Without student journalists holding university officials accountable, many concerns might slip under the cracks. Protect the freedom of the press. Support student journalism. Don’t censor news just because you don’t like it.