Lesson learned: MU student protesters wrong to block media
When holding a protest in a public space, especially one that helps to brings down a university administration, expect the media to pay attention.
That is one of the many takeaways from the tumultuous events at the University of Missouri that resulted Monday in the resignations of university system President Tim Wolfe and MU Chancellor R. Bowen Loftin.
After initially welcoming media attention, organizers of the student protests began limiting access to students and space near the tent encampment on the MU quad that had become the focal point of activity. Signs went up: No media allowed.
Some pushing and shoving between protesters and media ensued. One encounter was videotaped and uploaded to YouTube, where it has received widespread attention.
It shows Tim Tai, a Mizzou senior who was photographing the event on assignment from ESPN, arguing with protesters who try to push him back from the tent encampment.
“You don’t have a right to take our photos,” one protester told Tai, while others chanted “Hey hey, ho ho, reporters have got to go!”
Tai calmly asserted that he of course had every right to photograph what was going on in a public space. “This is the First Amendment that protects your right to stand here and mine,” he said. “The law protects both of us being here.”
Exactly. No one can force a reluctant subject to give an interview. But neither can anyone forbid the media from photographing and otherwise documenting events that take place in a public area.
If anyone should know that, it is a university communications professor. But Melissa Click, an assistant professor of mass media at MU, is seen in the video aggressively trying to push another student photographer out of the way. “Hey who wants to help me get this reporter out of here?” she yells. “I need some muscle over here!” she yells.
One can understand that emotions were running high. But faculty members should not be involved in efforts to intimidate photographers.
Click issued a graceful statement Tuesday saying she had apologized to the student journalists and wanted to apologize publicly for “my behavior and also for the way my actions have shifted attention away from the students’ campaign for justice.”
The student protesters, Click and others sacrificed some goodwill in their confrontations with the media. But by Tuesday, calmer heads had prevailed. Concerned Students 1950, the group that had led the protests, put up a different sign on the Carnahan Quad.
“Teachable moment,” it said, and acknowledged that 1) media had a right to be there; 2) media was important to tell the story of what is going on at MU; and 3) “let’s welcome and thank them.”
The students are fast learners. They are the driving force in what has become an international story about the high price that a university administration paid for failing to acknowledge the anger and pain of black students after several incidents of racism on campus.
They need to keep telling their story. And in today’s clamorous media environment, they can’t expect to dictate the time and terms.
This story was originally published November 10, 2015 at 1:31 PM with the headline "Lesson learned: MU student protesters wrong to block media."