Class
Article
College
College of Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
History Department
Faculty Mentor
Kyle Bulthuis
Presentation Type
Poster Presentation
Abstract
In the 1960s students across the United States began to grow distrustful of censorship restrictions placed on universities. This led to free speech movements across the country in protest of violated first amendment rights. At the heart of these protests, covering the violence, the speeches, and most importantly, the changes, were student journalists. Student journalists would go on to cover how major events affected their peers via articles, editorials, columns, and cartoons. Although major news outlets covered the same events and were often praised for it, student journalists and their work on university newspapers told the stories of how protest and war affected everyday people. This presentation aims to show how important student journalists were and still are by comparing two different time periods across many campuses: The Vietnam War and the War on Terror. Censorship diminished through hard work and pushback as student journalists participated and recorded war and protest throughout the decades. Specifically, I will be examining the differences between private and public Universities by comparing the student papers at Washington University in St. Louis and Utah State University. Findings show that censorship was much worse back in the 1960s and 1970s, but generally, both public and private university administrations allowed their students to publish newspapers without pushback. Religious universities such as Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas seem to be the exception. I examine the future and how censorship is no longer a problem for student journalists via administration but because students refusing to take part in interviews. This presentation concludes with the effects of student journalists in the twenty-first century and conclude that censorship is nonexistent for these students today.
Location
Logan, UT
Start Date
4-13-2021 12:00 AM
Included in
Relying on Us: Student Journalists and Censorship 1960-2010
Logan, UT
In the 1960s students across the United States began to grow distrustful of censorship restrictions placed on universities. This led to free speech movements across the country in protest of violated first amendment rights. At the heart of these protests, covering the violence, the speeches, and most importantly, the changes, were student journalists. Student journalists would go on to cover how major events affected their peers via articles, editorials, columns, and cartoons. Although major news outlets covered the same events and were often praised for it, student journalists and their work on university newspapers told the stories of how protest and war affected everyday people. This presentation aims to show how important student journalists were and still are by comparing two different time periods across many campuses: The Vietnam War and the War on Terror. Censorship diminished through hard work and pushback as student journalists participated and recorded war and protest throughout the decades. Specifically, I will be examining the differences between private and public Universities by comparing the student papers at Washington University in St. Louis and Utah State University. Findings show that censorship was much worse back in the 1960s and 1970s, but generally, both public and private university administrations allowed their students to publish newspapers without pushback. Religious universities such as Brigham Young University in Provo, Utah, and Baylor University in Waco, Texas seem to be the exception. I examine the future and how censorship is no longer a problem for student journalists via administration but because students refusing to take part in interviews. This presentation concludes with the effects of student journalists in the twenty-first century and conclude that censorship is nonexistent for these students today.