A case of police caution or a censorship attempt? That's the question I'm pondering in relation to a Purdue Exponent photo editor who police detained for questioning earlier this week. Michael Takeda was detained and his equipment confiscated after he attempted to photograph the building where a campus shooting occurred earlier in the … [Read more...]
Book Review: Seven Dirty Words #150Books
"There are bad actions. There are bad thoughts. But there is no such thing as bad words." I'm not exactly the type of person who you would expect to quote George Carlin. He was a hippy who did drugs daily for much of his life and used his raunchy comedy routine to take a stance on social issues. I'm a university professor and basketball mom. The … [Read more...]
Quote Approval as an Attempt at Media Control
Would you rather have something scripted or nothing at all? It's not a new question in the media industry. Sources regularly ask to preapprove questions, conduct interviews via email, review quotes, or read stories before they are published. All of these requests are forms of prior review, meaning the individual wants to read or filter the … [Read more...]
Streak of Adviser Terminations Continues
It's happened again. You may remember that I wrote back in August about a series of collegiate media adviser terminations. The unfortunate trend continues. Another adviser became victim last week of what appears to be censorship by termination. East Carolina University officials fired Paul Isom on Jan. 4. Isom's termination comes two … [Read more...]
LA City College attempts to censor student press
Some school administrators still think it's acceptable form to censor student media, even 40 years after the Tinker v. De Moines ruling found that students do not check their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse door. Sure, administrators don't call it "censorship." Censorship is a dirty word, attached to an act that no one wants linked to … [Read more...]