Public protest means chance of being seen

As politicians, talking heads and mixed media continue to pronounce newspapers dead, a student newspaper at Northwestern University in Illinois tried to push that narrative along recently because of a missing backbone.

During former U.S. attorney general Jeff Sessions’ speaking engagement at the university, student protesters tried to enter the building through a back door. Police intervened and unsuccessfully tried to push them back. Some of the students were knocked to the ground. A reporter from the student newspaper, the Daily Northwestern took pictures.

Once posted on the newspaper’s website, protesters contacted photographer Colin Boyle and demanded their pictures be taken down. Not only did he remove the photos, Editor Troy Closson published an apology.

What a disappointment. So many questions sprout from the photographer’s and editor’s actions.

We would question what Northwestern’s Medill journalism school is teaching its students, but Dean Charles Whitaker was one of the first to criticize the newspaper’s weak response. He said the Daily Northwestern had an obligation to report on the event. That includes pictures, video and good old fashioned interviews.

Photographed protesters called it “trauma porn.” Before the required pampering of college students it was just called news.

Once distilled, the pushback by students in the protest came down to them not wanting to be in the newspaper and their privacy and feelings weren’t being respected. A word of advice to wannabe protesters: if you’re a whiny, self-absorbed, politically correct teen who enjoys playing the victim, stay away from public protests.

These children fail to grasp several obvious and pertinent facts. First they are in public, no one can protect you from your actions there. You are on display for all the world to see.

Second, if you start a protest, that’s news. It should be primary to a news outlet. Protesters’ feelings get pushed to the bottom of the list.

Third, the coverage of protests or anything in public doesn’t get to be discussed. It happened, it was news and now it’s part of the school’s history. Chronicling that should be one of a newspaper’s primary responsibilities.

This is not a discussion. It’s a newspaper’s mission to capture, record, write about events in its readership area.

We’ve entered a different time for college students. As recently as 20 years ago they were by and large rambunctious, outgoing world-changers. Now many are entitled and sheltered introverts who want to be alerted when an offending image or phrase may be brought up in a class.

We hope college students everywhere learn it’s a harsh world. Most people don’t care about your feelings. Mommy and Daddy won’t always be there to fix your boo boos.

Both college students and non-college students should know that if you attend a protest, a rally, a march, you are in public. You will be seen by people. These people may very well disagree with you. The media may take your picture or quote you saying something in public.

If you don’t want to be seen or heard, stay in your dorm room and flip through the current social media addiction and communicate with people who agree with you.

— Rio Grande Sun