I'm still buzzing from this year's MediaFest25, the largest gathering of student journalists in the country, which took place last week in Washington, D.C.

Of particular note was the massive No Kings rally that took place just a few blocks away on Saturday morning, and the firing of Indiana University student media director Jim Rodenbush earlier that week (more on that below).

A personal highlight was the unveiling of the work I've been doing with the University of Vermont's Center for Community News over the last several months: a map of every student newspaper in the country.

I'm keeping it short this week, but will continue to roll out the resources I collected over the next few newsletters! Have a great week out there.

The Indiana situation

Those of us on the College Media Association listserv got quite a shock Tuesday afternoon when Jim Rodenbush emailed that he had been fired from his role as director of student media at the Indiana Daily Student.

“Here’s what happens when you refuse to help your University censor the student paper,” he wrote, along with a screenshot of the letter detailing his immediate termination.

The fallout built over the last week and was eventually picked up by major media like The New York Times — it didn't hurt that Mark Cuban weighed in on X. (And is it just me, or did anyone else tear up when they found out that the Purdue Exponent printed papers and distributed them on IU's campus?)

Dr. Vince Filak, the author of the Dynamics of Writing blog and a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, has been closely covering and colorfully commenting on this story as it evolves, most notably with a collection of headlines and a two-part Q&A with Jim.

When I was a student media adviser, journalism students at Indiana University and the IDS were the bane of my existence. They were — and are — too good. Virtually unbeatable in contests, perennial contenders in the Hearst competition, unrivaled in competition for top jobs.

There's a reason for that: the unwavering commitment to journalistic excellence preached and practiced within student media and IU’s journalism department.

I am fascinated to see what happens next, and I have every confidence that the powerful journalists and other alumni of IU are going to somehow make this right.

And how's this for irony? Yesterday at MediaFest25, the IDS won an ACP Pacemaker, generally considered the highest honor a student media organization can win.

Jim walked forward to accept the award. This is the crowd's reaction.

Headlines

Mandy Hofmockel, who writes the Journalism Jobs and a Picture of My Dog newsletter on Substack, has a free post that links to an internship application calendar along with some informational sessions from some heavy hitters (Wall Street Journal, Seattle Times, Dallas Morning News) on how to get an internship at their organization. I find these sessions to be helpful for perspective interns everywhere, not just those applying to The New York Times.

PBS just posted “Stripped for Parts: American Journalism on the Brink,” a gripping documentary about private equity wrecking havoc on American newspapers. It was made by two-time Academy Award nominee Rick Goldsmith, and I think your students would really appreciate it. It's a quick watch at an hour and a half.

Related: Podcaster Mark Simon interviewed Goldsmith about his work as part of his podcast series, The Journalism Salute, an excellent resource for professors who like assigning podcasts (and they come with teaching guides!).

Resources

The University of Vermont’s Center for Community News is hosting “Legal Challenges to Student Reporting,” a webinar with the Student Press Law Center.

I've previously written about the Extra Points newsletter, which “covers the business, policy and off-the-field stories changing college sports” and boasts a massive (paywalled) library of college sports contracts and other FOIAed information. Now they’ve launched Extra Points Classroom, a new bundle of tools priced at $30-$40 per student that might be worth checking out.

Feedback

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