The Harvard Undergraduate Council voted to condemn the campus newspaper, the Crimson, for asking Immigration and Customs Enforcement to comment on a story about a protest against the agency.
In October, nearly 100 students participated in a demonstration against ICE after the Temporary Protective Status for immigrants from El Salvador expired. As part of its coverage of the protest, the Crimson reached out to ICE for comment. The agency did not reply and that information was included in the article about the protest.
The reporter’s attempt to get a comment from ICE resulted in a petition that was signed by more than 900 students and endorsed by several student groups, including the Harvard College Democrats.
On Monday, the Harvard Undergraduate Council announced that the body had narrowly passed a condemnation of the Crimson for attempting to include a comment from ICE in their coverage.
“We condemn actions or policies that endanger undocumented and immigrant students on campus, and we encourage the Harvard Crimson to revisit their policies and make adequate changes,” the resolution stated. “It is imperative for the Harvard Crimson to commit to journalistic practices that do not put students at risk.”
The council noted that they want the Crimson to maintain journalistic ethics without endangering students, noting, “With this stated, we understand that upholding journalistic standards within the Crimson is vital; however, we do not believe that upholding such standards and ensuring the wellbeing of students are mutually exclusive.”
The vote passed 15-13-4. The Crimson’s President Kristine Guillaume defended the decision to reach out to ICE, explaining that reporting on both sides is one of the “fundamental journalistic values.”
“Fundamental journalistic values obligate The Crimson to allow all subjects of a story a chance to comment,” Guillaume stated. “This policy demonstrates a commitment to ensuring that the individuals and institutions we write about have an opportunity to respond to criticisms in order to ensure a fair and unbiased story.”
In a “note to readers,” the Crimson elaborated on Guillaume’s points.
“A world where news outlets categorically refuse to contact certain kinds of sources — a world where news outlets let third-party groups dictate the terms of their coverage — is a less informed, less accurate, and ultimately less democratic world,” they wrote.
The Crimson is not the only campus paper facing backlash for their coverage of anything related to the Trump administration. The campus paper at Northwestern University, the Daily Northwestern, issued an apology on Saturday for its “traumatic” coverage of a speech by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions.
