Posted on 01/15/2016 7:43:20 PM PST by Steely Tom
It only took a couple of hours for the video to go viral; a bizarre confrontation between a student journalist and a communications professor during a protest at the University of Missouri last November.
And the fallout was unprecedented. Especially considering the university is home to the oldest journalism school in the United States, maybe even the world. An institution ranked first in the country by the Radio Television Digital News Association, which university officials say, sets the standards for journalism institutions.
In fact, less than a month after the viral incident, the RTDNA announced it had created the First Amendment Defender award to present to Tim Tai, the student photojournalist who stood his ground snapping photos against the swarming crowd of suffocating protesters who were pushing and shoving him while chanting, "Hey hey, ho ho, reporters have got to go!"
But it was the other student photojournalist, Mark Schierbecker, who had recorded the altercation between Tai and the protesters, posting it online within hours.
And it was Schierbecker who was assaulted by the enraged communications professor named Melissa Click, who called for some "muscle" to have him removed from an area he had every right to be in.
But rather than win a First Amendment award, Schierbecker was told by an editor at the independent student newspaper where he was a contributor to stop telling reporters he was a contributor, claiming it is a "conflict of interest" now that he was part of the story.
Just three months earlier, his photo of a topless protest on campus, along with the accompanying article, generated the most views in the history of the Maneater's website. That is, until November, when the stories of the resignations of University of Missouri President Tim Wolfe and Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin took the top spot.
On the other hand, the dean of the University of Missouri School of Journalism, David Kurpius, came to Tai's defense the day after the viral incident, saying the student photojournalist "handled himself professionally and with poise" against the protesters, most who were students, but one who was another in-your-face faculty member named Janna Basler.
But the dean never mentioned Schierbecker in his statement, even though his right to record was also infringed upon, and even though it was his video that captured the confrontation.
The difference is that Schierbecker majored in history and Tai majored in journalism.
That meant that Tai was considered a "real" journalist in their eyes, a product of the prestigious program that proudly boasts of the "Missouri Method," a meticulous approach to journalism where every story is vetted through several editors before publication.
Tai also spent a semester working at the Columbian Missourian, the award-winning newspaper that has been in existence since 1908, the year the school of journalism was founded. Only journalism majors are allowed to contribute to the Missourian, which gives it a sense of elitism.
And Schierbecker was considered a "citizen" journalist, which was why he was only allowed to contribute to the Maneater, the student-run newspaper founded in 1955 that runs independently from the school of journalism.
Not being indoctrinated in the Missouri Method, Schierbecker wasted no time in uploading the video to Facebook where it quickly went viral, taking a life of its own and becoming an even bigger story than the unfolding drama that was taking place on campus that day with the unexpected resignations of the top two administrators.
Nevertheless, Schierbecker almost became an afterthought in the mainstream media and the student publications covering the story afterwards, which focused most of their attention on Tai and on Click, even though without his video, there would be no story.
The fact that Click was listed as an associate professor on the journalism school's website left the esteemed program scrambling to distance itself from her rather than report the story.
And the fact that Click was listed as chairwoman of the Student Publications Committee, which oversees the Maneater, left that newspaper scrambling to distance itself from her rather than report the story.
The two publications, who pride themselves on taking journalism seriously, abiding by strict ethics, fierce reporting and unadulterated accuracy, ended up being scooped by almost every major news site in the country, even though the incident took place on their own campus.
The incident also raised the question as to whether or not the famed school of journalism has kept up with the ever-evolving media landscape where everybody and anybody is a potential journalist at any given moment.
After all, neither the Maneater nor the Missourian reported on the Melissa Click incident until the following day, even though it was being reported by everybody from the New York Times to CNN the day of the incident, not to mention going hugely viral on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.
And when they did report on the incident, it was mostly to distance themselves from Click by explaining we should not believe what we are reading on the university's websites because her role, in reality, had nothing to do with either newspaper.
In fact, the dean of the journalism school - as well as several alumni and staff - accused Photography is Not a Crime of sloppy reporting because we associated Click with the school in out article, which like every other national news site, was posted before they posted their article on the incident.
But screenshots below show she was clearly associated with both the school of journalism and the Maneater through her role as chair of the Student Publications Committee. At least in name only.
But you can see they were also quick to remove her name as chair of the committee, leaving it vacant for a day or so before filling it with another name.
Some information here that is new to me.
Wonder how the J-school applications are going? The undergrad applications are down by about 5%, I think I saw in a recent story.
I like the idea of a "First Amendment Defender award" - that idea works... but the rest of the story tells me this Journalism School lacks... everything.
BOR reported the other night that Ol’ Mizzou enrollment is down 5% this year and graduate school enrollment is down 19%. The other universities and colleges who received those students are thanking Melissa Click.
I suppose those enrollment trends might require a reassessment of budget priorities for certain graduate programs at Mizzou, with concomitant rebalancing of staffing levels a necessary but regrettable consequence.
Sometimes the axe falls with sound much like a "click."
Long but very good article illustrating how the U of Mo is trying to cover its butt and make this go away.
Maybe there are some real student journalists left.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.