IDS makes the newsCheck out these links to organizations talking about the IDS. Several picked up sophomore Brian Spegele’s IDS report about the controversy.
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Media organizations around the national followed the situation. The Student Press Law Center, Poynter Institute, Society of Professional Journalists, the Indianapolis Star, the (Bloomington) Herald-Times, the Washington Post, U-Wire, Associated Press, CBS News and others reported the story either in print or on their Web sites. Some posted IDS stories and editorials on their own sites, while others offered blogs for commentary. (See sidebar for links to those reports.)
The controversy started with the press release the sponsoring organization, Student Alliance for National Security, sent to the IDS. The release said the lecture was "free and open to the public," but "off-the-record for the press."
Holding a public event on public property using public dollars and not allowing the press to cover it is against the law, said IDS editor-in-chief and School of Journalism senior Carrie Ritchie. “It’s really important to protect those journalistic rights, especially nowadays when you hear reports everyday about the government being more secretive.”
The IDS sent reporter Elvia Malagon to cover the talk, where students affiliated with SANS argued in favor of O’Sullivan’s request and said cancelling the lecture was a waste of time and money for the university. The IDS staffers countered they were not responsible for the cancellation, rather the speaker chose not to lecture.
“It was all to benefit the readers of the IDS,” said Malagon, a freshman. “So I think it’s important for every journalist to keep in mind that we do have a responsibility to report about what’s going on, not only at the university, but around Bloomington and the world. I think every journalist should definitely do some homework about what their rights are.”
Blog postings and Web comments flowed in, agreeing and disagreeing with the IDS’ position, critiquing O’Sullivan’s behavior and debating an administration’s right to keep information “off the record.” For example, some Daily Kos bloggers lauded the IDS, but extended the discussion to address government’s right to keep information from the public.
IDS editors, reporters and staff tracked and evaluated the national attention.
“I think it’s wonderful because Carrie Ritchie and her staff handled everything so thoughtfully, ethically and professionally,” said Nancy Comiskey, interim director for student media at IU. “It’s just terrific that we’re getting all this kind of recognition for college students doing everything right.”
Ritchie said the reporters and editors learned from this real-world situation.
“Even if it hadn’t turned out so well, yes it would have been harder to deal with,” Ritchie said. “But the thing is, if we would’ve let them get away with that, we would’ve set a precedent that’s not only bad for this university, but bad for both government and media officials across the country.” e-mail this pageback to News
