The Gatepost Editorial: The Gatepost stands in solidarity with The Indiana Daily Student

By The Gatepost Editorial Board

Indiana University’s independent, student-run newspaper, The Indiana Daily Student (IDS), was forced to leave their newsstands empty on Oct. 16 after a censorship incident that has rocked the world of student journalism.

Administrators fired the IU Media School’s Director of Student Media, Jim Rodenbush, who advised IDS, after he refused to censor news coverage, according to a letter from the editor published by IDS’ co-editors-in-chief Mia Hilkowitz and Andrew Miller. 

Rodenbush said he had been repeatedly pressured to tell students to stop publishing news content and his refusal resulted in his firing. The dean of IU’s Media School wrote in a letter that Rodenbush’s termination was “due to a lack of leadership and inability to work in alignment with the university’s direction for the Student Media Plan,” according to The New York Times.

IDS journalists approached the administration for answers and, hours later, administrators fully barred IDS from publishing in print. 

Print provides visibility and therefore gives power to student journalism. Taking away a newspaper's right to print renders a paper nearly invisible to a campus community.

IU’s administration contends that halting the printing of IDS is strictly a business decision as part of a move to shift resources from print to digital media, according to The New York Times. 

Regardless of this claim from IU, this is a clear attempt to censor IDS and a blatant infringement on the right to free speech and free press for student journalists. 

This is not the only attack on IDS’ right to free speech this year. 

In March, several members of The Gatepost Editorial Board attended the College Media Association’s Spring National College Media Convention, where we heard directly from IDS’ editor-in-chief about an incident in which the Indiana Lieutenant Governor, Micah Beckwith, attacked IDS over an illustration of President Donald Trump. He called IDS a “complete joke and waste of money” and referred to the illustration as “propoganda” in an X post. 

Beckwith went so far as to threaten IDS in his post, writing, “This type of elitist leftist propaganda needs to stop or we will be happy to stop it for them.”

Student journalists are facing some of the most egregious censorship attempts in American history.

In January, The Mercury, the student newspaper at the University of Texas at Dallas, was shut down.

Student journalists for The Mercury went on strike after the firing of their editor-in-chief, who defended news coverage of pro-Palestinian protests on campus, according to The Texas Tribune.

Penn State’s The Daily Collegian had their funding stripped for AY 2024-25 and 35 of their newsstands removed for no reason by university officials in September 2024. 

Laced through all of these incidents is an underlying desire from university administrations - and, in the case of Beckwith, the government - to control student journalism rather than foster it. 

As student journalists ourselves, The Gatepost Editorial Board is acutely aware of how important it is for campus communities to have access to ethical, objective, and transparent news about the state of their universities. 

As we watch our peers continue to fight against intimidation, censorship, and attacks on their editorial independence, we stand united with them.

The Gatepost will continue to be dedicated to pushing back on any attacks against free speech on campus or in our country. 

In light of the government shutdown and the continued polarization in politics, it is more important than ever to have trusted local news sources that work to inform their communities on the issues happening close to home. 

The free press has long been one of the most important pillars of American society for its ability to provide unbiased information to those who may not have access to it.

The Gatepost Editorial Board will continue to call out attacks against our peers and stand in solidarity with them. 

We can’t let these transgressions against the press go unchallenged and turn a blind eye. If we do, who’s next?

Today, it's Indiana. Tomorrow, it's Texas. The next day, it might be Framingham. 

No matter where censorship occurs, The Gatepost will always be here to speak up and reinforce our rights as journalists and citizens.

To the journalists at The Indiana Daily Student - keep fighting. We stand with you.