Of course we now deem every piece of journalism we dislike “fake news.” The college cartel that controls our commentariat has inculcated a culture of hostility toward the free press.
One recent entry in the lengthy laundry list of campus attacks on student journalism comes from Harvard College. Recall how the Harvard Crimson committed the grave sin of requesting a comment from ICE for a news article about a campus rally calling for the immigration enforcement agency’s abolition. Now, Harvard’s student paper doesn’t just face a boycott from dozens of the campus’ activist organizations but also a vote of solidarity with the activists from the undergraduate council.
Students and the governing body of the oldest college in the country attacking journalists for following the standard rule of the right of reply is obviously egregious. But it’s not unusual at all. In fact, it’s indicative of students and university bureaucrats alike training an entire generation to vilify the Fourth Estate.
Brandeis University spent a year investigating student journalists who covered a march for sexual assault survivors after fellow students complained to the school about their factual, objective news article covering the event.
The Claremont Independent, the conservative-leaning news outlet for the Claremont Colleges, regularly comes under fire for its content, but not just because of its openly right-wing opinion pieces. Nowadays, it’s being attacked for straight news reporting on absurd events such as a nonwhites-only pool party.
Such behavior is encouraged by campus bureaucrats, who are especially keen on suppressing journalists from outlets with partisan editorial leans. The mob begins to go after everyone for objective news reporting. A reporter from the Student Life, the official and nonpartisan news outlet of the Claremont Consortium, was thrown out of a college council meeting debating whether Pitzer College ought to discontinue an Israeli study abroad program.
There’s no question that the public has ample reason to distrust famous journalists at major news networks. News executives taking home big six- and seven-figure paychecks colluded to cover up investigations into every alleged predator from Harvey Weinstein to Prince Andrew, and instances of anti-conservative bias in the national news has allowed President Trump to successfully use the media writ large as a foil to keep his base motivated.
But the local media and even most objective news reporters in the national media serve as a vital check on those with power. It spells doom for journalists that colleges are raising a generation to excoriate news reporters for not acting like activists. We’re worse off as a country because of it.
