I am a Journalist.
I am a Missouri Tiger.
(And I am a mother who dresses her children up in Tiger attire.)
This week I have never been more proud to call myself a Journalist, a Tiger (and an overzealous mother). Everyone that went to The University of Missouri knows the outstanding reputation of its journalism school. It is why a girl from Colorado endured four years of Midwest heat and humidity. It is the reason people flock to a small town in Missouri from all around the world. And it is what gave me the foundation to work in the highly competitive world of TV News. Many people in the business understand and respect the reputation of Mizzou when it comes to journalism. But this week the whole world saw what Missouri J-School stands for when its students found themselves enmeshed in a national story.
Monday the University President resigned amid protests by the Mizzou football team against what they considered a lack of action taken to combat racism on campus. Students, including Jonathan Butler who started the protests with his hunger strike, rejoiced. The media cheered the incredible power average people had harnessed to create change, something we have seen across this country in the past year starting with the protests in nearby Ferguson. And we all thought the story had a happy ending. But later that day protesters turned on the press. Emotions spilled over and there was an attempt to block members of the media from the Quad, which is a very public space. One of the people leading the charge was actually an Assistant Professor of Mass Communications on campus. This made no sense to members of the “mainstream media.” How could a Professor from the world’s leading journalism school possibly block the press from a public space? First, I want everyone to know that Melissa Click WAS NOT a Professor at the esteemed University of Missouri School of Journalism. She was a faculty member of the College of Arts and Sciences, which is NOT part of the journalism school. Second, Tim Tai, the student Click pushed, WAS a member of the Mizzou Journalism School and he did exactly what he was taught. Tai stood his ground and continued to document what was happening in a public space. He tried not to become a part of the story but rather bear witness to an important moment in history. He helped us all see what was really going on during a heated moment on campus. And he made Mizzou proud. That night Dean David Kurpius appeared on our CNN show and reaffirmed to the world that “we stand squarely for the first amendment” at the University of Missouri School of Journalism.
I hope that this moment is a lesson for journalism students around the world. We have the right to document what is happening in public places even in difficult and contentious situations. If the media had never reported on the strike in the first place I doubt that change would have come so quickly. In fact, before any of this happened Professor Click had been trying unsuccessfully to garner media attention for her cause. Let’s be honest. If the media had not covered the deaths of Trayvon Martin or Michael Brown they would not be household names and the #blacklivesmatter movement would not be nearly as powerful as it is today. I was in Ferguson and I know that the media spread the protesters’ message and pushed for the changes that ensued. Eventually the Police Chief lost his job and the entire department was restructured. I am in no way diminishing the efforts of those leading these movements on the ground but without journalists covering them I do not believe they would have the same impact. We all need a free and open press.
Today Missouri has a new man in charge. Former Civil Rights Attorney Michael Middleton was appointed interim President. I hope for my fellow Tigers that the situation improves. I hope their voices are heard and their grievances addressed. I hope that the University can become a place of inclusion and acceptance, not only of a diversity of ethnicity but also of a diversity of opinion. I also hope that it will remain a place to train and inspire the best journalists in the world to cover injustice and societal change everywhere it happens. I am inspired by the students who stood up for what they believed in and proud of those who brought us the story from the front lines. Keep up the good work.
GO MIZZOU!