As pro-Palestinian protests sweep campus, student journalists are rushing to the big story and exams
CNN
As pro-Palestinian protests sweep college campuses, student journalists are rushing to the big story and exams
Arianna Smith is juggling a lot right now. Smith is editor-in-chief of The Lantern, Ohio State University’s student-run newspaper, which has scrambled in recent days to cover pro-Palestinian protests roiling the campus. It’s also finals week, and in the coming days the newspaper’s staff will transition to the next year’s staff. But the news doesn’t account for exams. “We have had reporters and editors drop everything they are doing [to cover the story], even though they have finals that they should be studying for,” Smith told CNN. As universities across the country crack down on demonstrations over Israel’s military actions in Gaza and police arrest hundreds of protesters, student-run newspapers have quickly become an essential source of news coverage for both the campus communities and nation at large, providing crucial transparency and scrutiny of authorities. And, for many of these student journalists, it’s becoming a seminal moment in their nascent careers.