Students Turn Against Free Press

xjx388 said:
Can you explain what was "traumatic" about the event?
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No, having not been at the protest, I am content to take the word of the people who actually attended.

Can you explain why it is objectively wrong to state that anything traumatic happened at the event?
 
Checkmite said:
No, having not been at the protest, I am content to take the word of the people who actually attended.

Can you explain why it is objectively wrong to state that anything traumatic happened at the event?
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There is no evidence of it other than people complaining about being photoed
 
Ziggurat said:
And while I'm opposed to getting unsolicited texts because it's bothersome, if you're posting publicly on social media about a protest, you've already made your participation public.
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If you're posting publicly on social media about a protest, then interested media can message you on that platform to ask for an interview rather than digging through and finding personal information like your cell phone number.
 
Checkmite said:
If you're posting publicly on social media about a protest, then interested media can message you on that platform to ask for an interview rather than digging through and finding personal information like your cell phone number.
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Apparently they didn't

They just used a database that was opt in.
 
cullennz said:
There is no evidence of it other than people complaining about being photoed
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I have seen no evidence that their characterization is wrong, either.

It's not some kind of enigma why people attending protests against individual members of the government, especially the then-leader of this administration's DoJ, are not keen on photographs being taken of their faces and published in a way that facilitates tracking them down. This administration is known to be quite openly hostile and threatening against its critics and detractors, and its supporters have violently retaliated against protesters in the past.
 
cullennz said:
Apparently they didn't

They just used a database that was opt in.
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And not designated for such use. The paper is already on record acknowledging that access of it for such a purpose was not approved practice and those journalists who made use of it have been corrected.
 
smartcooky said:
You CAN argue privacy rights when the journalists in question use the photographs they have taken and a database to hunt down the names of the people at the protest, no matter what their reasons (noble or otherwise) might be for doing so.

If I had attended a protest, and a photographer/journalist came knocking on my door, having tracked down who I am and where I lived, he would be told to ****-off in no uncertain terms.
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From the rather vague description of what happened I can see how if it happened in an EU country it would fall foul of GDPR.
 
Checkmite said:
If you're posting publicly on social media about a protest, then interested media can message you on that platform to ask for an interview rather than digging through and finding personal information like your cell phone number.
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I’ve already said multiple times that I don’t think they should have texted. But the personal info angle is a red herring. The paper didn’t publish that info, and it’s already available to other people.
 
Checkmite said:
I have seen no evidence that their characterization is wrong, either.

It's not some kind of enigma why people attending protests against individual members of the government, especially the then-leader of this administration's DoJ, are not keen on photographs being taken of their faces and published in a way that facilitates tracking them down. This administration is known to be quite openly hostile and threatening against its critics and detractors, and its supporters have violently retaliated against protesters in the past.
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And I am sure proof of this at this school is forthcoming
 
cullennz said:
And I am sure proof of this at this school is forthcoming
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Checkmite is not talking about the school administration, he's talking about the Trump administration - the speaker was a former member of that administration.

Yes, I know this was a newspaper, but the general principle of photographing people at a protest, and then searching a database to find out who they are is one that we need to be very careful with - such a system could easily be abused.
 
Dean of the Medill School of Journalism responds

Charles Whitaker, dean of the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University, issued a statement. It reads in part, "But let me be perfectly clear, the coverage by The Daily Northwestern of the protests stemming from the recent appearance on campus by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions was in no way beyond the bounds of fair, responsible journalism. The Daily Northwestern is an independent, student-run publication. As the dean of Medill, where many of these young journalists are trained, I am deeply troubled by the vicious bullying and badgering that the students responsible for that coverage have endured for the “sin” of doing journalism."

The entire essay is worth reading.
 
Checkmite said:
I have seen no evidence that their characterization is wrong, either.

It's not some kind of enigma why people attending protests against individual members of the government, especially the then-leader of this administration's DoJ, are not keen on photographs being taken of their faces and published in a way that facilitates tracking them down. This administration is known to be quite openly hostile and threatening against its critics and detractors, and its supporters have violently retaliated against protesters in the past.
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It seems to me the college activists are willing to tolerate campus journalism, as long as that journalism conforms to their instructions. That's more a parody of journalism than actual journalism.
 
Back when I was a student in the mid '80's, the protestors used to do everything in their power to make sure that journalists were present and covering the event. We took the view that there was not much point in protesting if nobody knew you were doing it.
 
cullennz said:
And I am sure proof of this at this school is forthcoming
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smartcooky said:
Checkmite is not talking about the school administration, he's talking about the Trump administration - the speaker was a former member of that administration.
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Here's a database of acts of criminality and violence committed by Trump supporters, many of their victims being anti-Trump protesters.

Here's the response to such acts from the President of the United States to whom these criminals are so slavishly devoted:

"Any guy who can do a body slam is my kind of guy."

When pressed by host Chuck Todd to confirm whether he would cover the legal fees for the supporter, who is now reportedly facing assault and battery charges, Trump said he was considering it.

"I've actually instructed my people to look into it, yes," Trump said.
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smartcooky said:
True to form, the OP title was click-bait.

This has nothing at all to do with "Students Turn Against Free Press" and has everything to so with "Students Stand Up for their Privacy Rights"
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What privacy rights? If you take pictures of a protest, for instance, do you need written permission from all those in the picture to publish it?
 
It's depressing the way this sort of absurd snowflakism is defended by people on "my side" of things.

As others have noted, the only action that could reasonably be considered (mildly) objectionable is sending unwanted texts. BFD.
 
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