The student journalists in Minneapolis are busy.

“It's kind of all hands on deck,” said Charlie Weaver, the executive director and co-publisher of The Minnesota Daily, the student newspaper at the University of Minnesota, when I reached him Thursday. “They're really starting to find their their rhythm in regard to localizing this issue for their own community.”

The issue, of course, is a surge of federal agents, protests, violence and civic unrest in their college town, Minneapolis. And it’s freaking cold.

“(There are) moments where they're scared, there are moments where they're angry, there are moments when they're frustrated,” Weaver said, but there are also moments when they find ways to be proud of overcoming their fear and anxiety to do great work.

He said the student paper has placed a high priority on safety training for the students, including investing in protection gear and a implementing a mandatory buddy system. Still, he said that even for professional journalists, what’s happening in Minneapolis streets is unprecedented.

“I think as long as we just keep pushing the mantra to stay connected, communicate regularly and often — almost to the point where it's annoying — and understand that the whole world is going through what, quite frankly, student media goes through on a regular basis,” he said. “We're all on-the-job training right now.”

Weaver said the student-led team is doing its best to accommodate its journalists, letting them report where they’re comfortable, whether that’s scrolling social media for tips, working the phones at the office or out on the streets covering protests. “This is not the time to fake it until you make it. This is the time to talk about it until we have a plan, a strategy and a comfort level for everybody involved.”

Weaver has advice for student media professionals who face similar unrest: have on-the-ground legal help before you need it, prioritize safety training and gear, and pay attention to how other media outlets have comported themselves.

The biggest safety precaution is less obvious.

“The big thing, I think, is shoring up some mental health resources for your staff ahead of time,” he said. He especially advocated for visual journalists and social media specialists, who can sometimes be your newsroom’s unsung workhorses yet might get overlooked during a relentless news cycle — be sure they are being seen, heard and empowered.

Among The Minnesota Daily’s headlines:

• Protesters clash with law enforcement at the Graduate Hotel, at least 60 detained

• On Friday, thousands in Minneapolis marched for change and accountability. Saturday brought yet another tragedy.

• Thousands march the streets of downtown Minneapolis during general strike in opposition of ICE

You can read the rest of their coverage on their ICE operations section.

The university’s journalism department even compiled a list of resources for journalists covering the surge, though it’s applicable to other situations. And Poynter’s Al Tompkins talked to Minnesota faculty members about how they’re training and empowering their students in the classroom before they hit the streets.

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