Real journalism: Still on life support

Editor's note: The following is a Facebook post I wrote in November of 2015, after seeing then-University of Missouri Communications Dept. assistant professor Melissa Click take part in threatening a student journalist attempting to cover a campus protest. 
My sentiments haven't changed a bit, so I definitely feel like it's worth re-posting on this blog. 


I won't say journalism is dead, but in many ways the journalism I fell in love with as a kid is all but gone. Those who cared to notice saw the signs of decay worsen over the past few years, but the sickening video of a journalist attempting to cover University of Missouri protests earlier this week encapsulates exactly what's wrong. 

Student journalist Tim Tai is confronted while trying to document a protest

I used the word "sickening" to describe the video -- which shows protesters (students, faculty and others who were likely brought in to provide "support") physically harassing and intimidating working journalists -- and I stand by that description.

I've tried watching the video a couple of times and I frankly cannot get through it without feeling my heart rate climb, my muscles tense and my head begin to throb. It's truly disgusting, not just because of the way these fools bully the young photographer, but because academicians -- people who certainly should know better -- think nothing of trying to intimidate a member of the media trying to do his job. 

Amazingly, college campuses used to be bastions of free speech, free expression and the desire to push back against societal norms. Now, generally speaking, they're places where free thinkers with differing points of view are shouted down, bullied and threatened by the majority. I mean, it blows my mind to even think about such a thing.

A screen grab of Melissa Click confronting photojournalist Tim Tai

At the beginning of this post I made reference to the way journalism as we once knew it is all but gone. I then went on to detail how college campuses have gone from places where open minds gathered to freely exchange ideas, to places where the PC majority march in lockstep, intimidating those with different points of view. The logical question is, what does one thing have to do with the other? 

The answer is that as modern society has shifted from one that placed a premium on acceptance and tolerance to one that demands sensitivity and enables entitlement, many in the media turned a blind eye to this troublesome trend. Where once journalists prided themselves on being the world's watchdogs, many in the name of progressivism eagerly became the government's lapdogs. 

And with that the investigative drive of Woodward and Bernstein (Google the names if you're clueless) gave way to propagandizing for the "greater good." Believe it or not, there was a time when real journalists not only didn't need to be liked, they didn't WANT to be liked. Now, unfortunately, far too many would rather promote an agenda than push for the truth. Perhaps if journalism as a whole had remained steadfast in its willingness to tell the hard truth by asking tough questions, we wouldn't be left to gasp at a viral Internet video of college protesters who likely know everything about the Kardashians but almost nothing about the Constitution.

On May 4, 1970, during a Vietnam War protest at Kent State University, members of the Ohio National Guard opened fire on protesters, killing four and wounding nine others. Student journalist John Filo captured the image of 14-year-old Mary Ann Vecchio kneeling over the body of slain student Jeffery Miller. In the face of chaos and uncertainty, Filo fulfilled his journalistic obligation to document history and his powerful photo earned a Pulitzer Prize. 

Famed photo captured by journalist John Filo

In stark contrast, earlier this week Mizzou journalism student Tim Tai was intimidated and mocked by his fellow students -- and astonishingly, even an assistant professor from the school's famed journalism program -- as he attempted to fulfill his own obligation to document history. 

Personally, I'm proud of young Mr. Tai and the way he held his ground against those sheep we call protesters. And I hope he continues working as a journalist because there aren't that many left.