Journalists at Columbia are leading the coverage of their campus

For the past week, one story has dominated the online homepage of the Columbia Daily Spectator — the independent student newspaper of Columbia University in New York City.

That story? The protests over the Israel-Hamas war that have gone on inside and outside the campus. At one point Tuesday afternoon, nearly a dozen headlines on the Daily Spectator’s site were about this story.

The editorial board of the news organization asked, “Is Columbia in crisis?” A column called for the president of the university to resign. News stories covered the latest developments.

The Associated Press’ Karen Matthews and Nick Perry wrote, “Protests against the war had been bubbling for months but kicked into a higher gear after more than 100 pro-Palestinian demonstrators who had camped out on Columbia University’s upper Manhattan campus were arrested Thursday.”

President Joe Biden weighed in, condemning antisemitism on all college campuses in a statement, saying, “This blatant Antisemitism is reprehensible and dangerous — and it has absolutely no place on college campuses, or anywhere in our country.”

Meanwhile, others are defending students' right to protest.

And at Columbia, the Spectator has been there documenting it all.

Isabella Ramirez, editor-in-chief of the Spectator, appeared on CNN on Tuesday and told anchor Sara Sidner, “It has been an incredibly tense and emotional time on campus as of late. For a university that is considered an activist Ivy, in my time at the university and my time as a reporter and now as an editor, this is probably the largest-scale protest I have seen both on and off campus.”

The Daily Beast’s Corbin Bolies wrote, “Columbia has had to deal with hordes of protestors in and outside its gates, an uprising from its staff and students, a shift to virtual classes, and calls for President Minouche Shafik to join other Ivy League leaders in resignation over her decision to allow the NYPD to clear out a ‘Gaza Solidarity Encampment’ that resulted in the largest mass arrests on Columbia’s campus since 1968, when officers used violence to clear out students protesting the Vietnam War.”

Esha Karam, the managing editor of the Spectator, told Bolies, “Our reporters have really been working overtime. We’ve been on the ground, covering protests both inside and outside of campus at all times and all hours. We've faced unique challenges both as students who are living on campus and reporting at the same time. We've tried to gain a diverse array of perspectives.”

Boiles reports that more than 40 staffers from the Spectator’s 250-person newsroom are on the story. Responsible coverage has been the main goal. The Spectator has been quick to point out that what’s going on inside the gates of Columbia’s campus is different than what’s going on outside.

In her CNN interview, Ramirez said, “There is an important differentiation to know between what is happening on our campus, what is happening off campus, which is to say people who are not affiliated with the university and what they're saying. And that is certainly having an impact on people. But being able to differentiate that from the parties that are on campus and also always being specific about who are the actors in this and who do we hold accountable. And I think that's what our reporting has also aimed to do — to really identify that and to really make clear and avoid overgeneralizations that could be very harmful for all the communities involved in this.”

Karam told The Daily Beast, “It's sort of hard to make that distinction sometimes super clear where these are the protesters who are off campus and might be coming from around the city versus the students who are on campus. We have seen many arrests off-campus since Thursday, but we have not seen any arrests on campus since Thursday. So the distinction is hard to make sometimes, and I think what can be lost is sort of that nuance.”

The work of college journalists on this story has been solid and responsible. The news stories have context. The editorials and columns seem well-reasoned. The coverage has been fair.

News editor Shea Vance told The Daily Beast, “We are aware that this is reporting that will have a place in the historical record, not just at Columbia, but in the nation in regards to campus protests and activism and, and the history of how police have been brought to college campuses and what that means for a free speech landscape. We’re definitely feeling the pressure, but I think that we're shouldering it well, and we all feel passionately that this is something we need to do well and need to do right.”

Meanwhile …

Good read from The New York Times’ Anna Betts and Jonathan Wolfe with “Student Editorial Boards Rebuke College Officials for Protest Decisions.”

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The Poynter Journalism Prizes

Tuesday was a special day for the Poynter Institute. Poynter announced the winners of its inaugural journalism awards — the Poynter Journalism Prizes. While the contest is new to Poynter, it isn’t exactly brand new. The contest, which has been around for 45 years, was most recently headed by the News Leaders Association.

More than 525 entries from more than 300 news organizations and individual journalists entered the competition. These entries came from all platforms, including digital and broadcast, and winners and finalists were named in 10 categories. The focus was on writing, reporting and leadership. Winners will receive a cash prize of $1,000 or $2,500, depending on the category.

My Poynter colleague Angela Fu has all the winners and details, and here is the video announcement.

Among the winners were The Boston Globe’s Yvonne Abraham for columns about the issues facing that city’s homeless; The San Antonio News-Express for editorial writing about issues involving immigration and the border; and Megan Cassidy and Gabrielle Lurie of the San Francisco Chronicle in writing excellence for an 18-month investigation that explored how migrants from Honduras’s Siria Valley provide the labor that fuels San Francisco’s drug crisis.

In a new category for short writing, named after Poynter’s longtime writing instructor Roy Peter Clark, the award went to The Dallas Morning News’ Maggie Prosser for “Deadly Fake: ‘Something of hers,” a 425-word heartbreaking story about a grieving mother who lost her daughter to fentanyl poisoning.

And in what might have been my favorite, The Punch Sulzberger Innovator of Year Award went to Adam Clark of New Jersey Advance Media for “The Oral History of Wawa.” Check it out. Trust me. You’ll like it.

Be sure to read Fu’s story for all the winners and more details about the contest.

An expected setback

Another disappointing, although not surprising, development in the case of Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich, who is being detained in Russia on bogus charges of being a spy. On Tuesday, a Moscow court rejected an appeal against his detention, meaning he will remain in jail until at least June 30. Gershkovich already has been awaiting trial since being arrested more than a year ago. The Journal vehemently denies Gershkovich is a spy, and the U.S. government considers him unlawfully detained.

In a statement, The Wall Street Journal said, “It continues to be outrageous that Evan has been wrongfully detained by the Russian government for more than a year. Evan’s freedom is long overdue, and we urge the administration to do everything in their power to secure his release.”

The Wall Street Journal’s Ann M. Simmons reported, “Gershkovich, smiling at times and talking with his lawyers, appeared in a see-through defendant’s box in the courtroom wearing jeans and a plaid shirt.”

The ability to compete

In a decision that could have a profound impact on local TV and radio, among other news platforms, the Federal Trade Commission voted Tuesday to ban noncompete agreements for most U.S. workers. That means employers won’t be able to enforce clauses that restrict workers from going from one company to another within the same industry.

Noncompetes have been quite common on local TV and radio. As longtime Poynter senior faculty member Al Tompkins wrote in January 2023, “Those are the legal documents that media companies, especially local TV stations, force journalists to sign that keep them from working for competing stations, sometimes for up to a year. These contracts are not just for high-profile anchors, but also for producers, multi-media journalists and reporters who earn $30,000 to $50,000 a year and want to make more dough without moving to another town.”

The Washington Post’s Julian Mark wrote, “The FTC voted 3 to 2 Tuesday to issue the rule it proposed more than a year ago. The new rule makes it illegal for employers to include the agreements in employment contracts and requires companies with active noncompete agreements to inform workers that they are void. The agency received more than 26,000 comments about the rule after it was proposed some 16 months ago. The rule will take effect after 120 days, although business groups have promised to challenge it in court, which could delay implementation.”

There are various figures on how many Americans have noncompete clauses in their contracts. The range could be anywhere from 18% of Americans to possibly as high as 50%. According to Tompkins’ story from a year ago, there are about 30 million Americans who have noncompetes.

Mark wrote, “The FTC estimates that banning noncompete agreements could create jobs for 30 million Americans and raise wages by nearly $300 billion per year.”

Taking care of the locals

Here’s a shoutout for local media. It comes from Dawn Staley, coach of the national champion University of South Carolina women’s basketball team.

One report said Staley spent a half hour after her team won the national championship giving local reporters one-on-one interviews. Giving access to local reporters who regularly cover her team is not unusual for Staley.

Staley recently told Front Office Sports’ Margaret Fleming, “They know the type of questions they need to ask because they know the inner workings of our team. They’ve watched us, and they’ve followed us, and they know what our standard is, and when we don’t play to our standard, they recognize it. So it’s not like the national media who sees you once or twice or three times, and that’s their opinion. Or they’ll speak from a historical standpoint, not knowing real-time what our team is all about. But the local media, they know. I’d rather spend my time with the people that really know our team, that’s going to report back to our fan base and give them the real.”

Exclusive interview

On Wednesday, May 1, ABC News’ Robin Roberts will have an exclusive interview with WNBA star Brittney Griner, who will talk about her 10-month detainment in a Russian jail. Griner, who was playing professionally in Russia, was arrested at a Moscow airport in February 2022 for possessing vape cartridges containing cannabis oil. This happened only days before Russia invaded Ukraine.

Griner was sentenced to nine years in prison, but was released in a prisoner swap on December 8, 2022.

The one-hour prime-time “20/20” special, “Prisoner in Russia: The Brittney Griner Interview” will air at 10 p.m. Eastern.

Media tidbits

• Yet another take on the Gregg Doyel-Caitlin Clark news conference, and this one takes issue with something I wrote. From the Poynter website, it’s Tracy Everbach, Steve Fox and Carolyn Nielsen with “Everyday sexism has no place in sports journalism,”
• New York Magazine’s E. Alex Jung with “Mehdi Hasan Wants to Debate You.”
• For Poynter’s PolitiFact, Madison Czopek and Sara Swann with “Fact-checking Aaron Rodgers, who repeated Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s false claims about HIV/AIDS.”
• From KSAT in San Antonio: “KSAT mourns sudden death of beloved photojournalist.”
• The Hollywood Reporter’s Alex Weprin with “Inside The New York Times’ Next Big Bet: ‘The Interview.’”
• Puck has hired John Heilemann as chief political columnist. Heilemann is also an analyst for NBC News and MSNBC and was the co-creator of Showtime's political docuseries, “The Circus.” At Puck, he will write a weekly column and anchor a new Sunday edition of Puck's daily political private email. Axios’ Sara Fischer has the details.
• It was four years ago Tuesday that then-President Donald Trump talked about injecting disinfectant inside people or shining ultraviolet or “very powerful light” to get rid of the coronavirus. Here’s that video just to remind you how bonkers that really was.
• For GQ, Joseph Bien-Kahn writes about former big-league all-star pitcher Randy Johnson, who has picked up another profession: “Randy Johnson Steps Behind the Camera.”

Hot type

• The Washington Post’s Janay Kingsberry, Anne Branigin and Samantha Chery with “The winners and losers of Coachella 2024.”
• Fun stuff from Los Angeles Times photo editor Taylor Arthur and photographer Myung J. Chun: “Best portraits from the Festival of Books: John Green, Henry Winkler and more.”

More resources for journalists

• Reporter’s Toolkit gives you the tools to succeed early in your career. Apply by April 28.
• June’s Lead with Influence is for women and nonbinary leaders to develop their political clout.
• Delve more deeply into your editing skills with Poynter ACES Intermediate Certificate in Editing.
• Understand U.S. Immigration From the Border to the Heartland — Start any time.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].