Fourteen national journalism groups have sent a letter to the Indiana University administration, encouraging the school to follow through on recommendations to maintain media independence on campus.
A news release from the Student Press Law Center, one of the signers of the June 3 letter, noted the outrage among journalism organizations in November after I.U. canceled print publication of the Indiana Daily Student and fired the student media director. The university objected to the newspaper’s including news stories in a homecoming edition.
A task force was then convened to recommend ways to guarantee future editorial independence and financial stability for I.U. student media.
“The credibility of this process now depends on whether IU follows through,“ the letter reads. “Now is the time for IU to demonstrate its stated commitment to robust student media by putting that roadmap into action.”
The Indiana Daily Student reported June 8 that the task force recommended “protections for editorial independence, student representation in governance and a funding structure that ‘cannot be used to influence or punish editorial coverage.’”
The journalism coalition includes the SPLC, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, and the Society of Professional Journalists.
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