Student journalists need a bigger seat at the table

Amanda Little, Tribune News Service

Last year dealt heavy blows to the American news industry — with turmoil in legacy newsrooms, local papers disappearing, the collapse of BuzzFeed and other digital news giants, and major firings and record-low audiences at cable news outlets. But breakdown, as the adage goes, can hasten breakthrough, and in 2023, a new generation of American journalists demonstrated significant talent and promise. Gen Z college students produced landmark reporting, revealing important truths about what it will take to sustain and modernise an industry vital to our democracy in 2024.

Student journalists exposed misconduct, divulged fraudulent research and revealed toxic leadership practices at the Universities of Pennsylvania and North Carolina and at Stanford, Columbia, Northwestern, Harvard and beyond. Their dogged investigations led to the removal of an eminent university president and an iconic football coach. They chronicled the traumas of a campus shooting, disclosed dubious funding streams, and repeatedly scooped local and national news. All while attending classes and knocking out their homework.

As an undergraduate journalism professor, I’ve interviewed many of these young reporters and know not only how valuable their work is, but also how difficult and jeopardised it is. It’s necessary for all of us with roles in higher education — alums, administrators, board members and philanthropists — to protect and support independent student publications and expand journalism programming on campuses nationwide. “Students have access to more and bigger stories and audiences than we ever have, but we’re also facing more difficulties,” Stanford sophomore Theo Baker told me.

Baker, 18, examined the manipulated scientific research of the university’s former president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne, revealing evidence that led to his resignation. Baker received a prestigious Polk Award but also said he was harassed, shunned by professors, threatened with lawsuits, and smeared on social media. “Journalists are a cancer on society,” one peer posted.

We can’t forget that student journalism is the seedbed of the American news industry. If we want a vibrant free press — and, for that matter, a functioning democracy — we need to pay closer attention to both the successes and needs of student publications and make significant investments in expanding journalism curricula and programming. The American news industry needs young, digital-native talent. Sure, Gen Z’s preoccupation with social media may seem more disruptive to journalism than beneficial, but many college journalists are using it discerningly and to their advantage. Emmy Martin, editor-in-chief of the Daily Tar Heel at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, oversaw the coverage of the campus shooting that was shared with millions by President Joe Biden, among other notable figures. The Daily Tar Heel’s audience surged beyond the UNC campus and now reaches more than 63,000 followers on X, 43,000 on Instagram and has more than 85,000 likes on TikTok.

“It’s good for newspapers to have to adapt,” Martin told me. “We can be creative while still fact-checking, discovering the truth, and serving the public good.” Molly Cohen, who helped break the story in the student newspaper, the Daily Pennsylvanian, about the resignation of the University of Pennsylvania’s former president Liz Magill, said, “Our use of social media has made the news a lot more accessible, meeting our audiences where they are. We’re getting better and better at creating gateways to full-length journalism.” And this goes beyond demonstrating social media savvy and holding college administrators accountable. As Miles Herszenhorn, managing editor of the Harvard Crimson, put it: “What are we as college newspapers if not local media outlets? Our campus news coverage matters, but our Metro reporting also fills a vacuum.”