Student Journalists Cover Pro-Palestinian Protest Chaos on College Campuses

The student-run newspaper of Ohio State University, The Lantern, has been keeping its community informed about recent pro-Palestinian protests that have caused chaos on campus. Arianna Smith, who is currently serving as editor-in-chief at the publication, shared with CNN how her team of reporters and editors put aside their studies to cover these demonstrations during finals week. While most students were studying for exams, some went beyond academic commitments and took action in response to the university’s policies against encampment on campus grounds. Smith expressed that it is crucial for student journalists like her team at The Lantern to remain objective while covering such events because they understand the power of their words.
At USC, where almost 100 individuals were recently apprehended amid demonstrations swelling with growing tensions caused by university officials’ decision to cancel a Muslim valedictorian’s commencement speech and graduation ceremony due to safety concerns, student journalists at The Daily Trojan took advantage of their intimate knowledge of the campus community. Anjali Patel, editor-in-chief for this publication shared with CNN that because they were familiar with the area, they could offer a different perspective than professional news outlets when covering these events. As pressure mounted on USC’s campus, The Daily Trojan assigned more reporters to cover demonstrations and mobilized five photographers to report protests following the police deploying batons at riot-gear clad state troopers against protesters in full view of students.
At UT Austin, Amelia Kimball from The Daily Texan shared with CNN that there was a physical confrontation between protestors and law enforcement officers who were dressed for combat before the demonstrations even began. She also mentioned that many students felt betrayed by both their university and state government after numerous individuals got arrested during protests against Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which led to Abbott warning about antisemitism not being tolerated in Texas while calling on protesters’ expulsion from the campus. Kimball said she could sense a high level of anger among students because they felt like state troopers invaded their grounds before any demonstrations began and that things escalated far beyond what was expected by protestors, leaving them feeling betrayed both by university officials and Texas’s governor.