On Nov. 2, a University of Missouri graduate student, Jonathan Butler announced he would go on a hunger strike until UM System President, Tim Wolfe, resigned from his position.
Butler and other protesters called for Wolfe’s resignation claiming that he did not adequately respond to racial incidents on campus.
According to the Columbia Missourian, Butler wrote MU officials saying, “Students are not able to achieve their full academic potential because of the inequalities and obstacles they face. In each of these scenarios, Mr. Wolfe had ample opportunity to create policies and reform that could shift the culture of Mizzou in a positive direction but in each scenario he failed to do so.”
Other students and faculty, including the activist group Concerned Student 1950, camped out in solidarity with Butler. The group is named in remembrance of the year the university first admitted African-American students. National media took notice when MU’s football team declared they would boycott all future games until Wolfe stepped down.
On Nov. 9, Wolfe formally resigned from his position, but Butler and Concerned Student 1950 made it clear that their fight wasn’t over yet.
In a press conference, the group demanded a meeting with university officials to discuss system policies and the selection of a new system president.
What started as a peaceful demonstration quickly turned ugly when protesters started to gang up on the press.
Protesters identified photographer Tim Tai as part of the press, formed a perimeter around him and began to push him away from the area. Tai lifted his camera above the crowd in an attempt to capture more photos, but was quickly stopped by protesters who proceeded to block him from documenting the protest.
With arms raised, protesters shouted “You don’t have a right to take our photos,” and began to collectively chant, “Hey hey, ho ho, reporters have to go.”
Rather than seeing Tai as an ally who could aid in documenting their cause, the protesters focused their energy on obstructing his efforts.
The video documents a clearly shocked and frustrated Tai asking the protesters why they were violating his right to publish, guaranteed to him by the First Amendment.
“I have a job to do. I’m documenting this for national news media,” he said. “The First Amendment protects your right to be here and mine.”
Apparently unsatisfied with Tai’s proclamation, a female protester shouted in response, “We’re asking you to respect our space as human beings.”
Tai retorted, “There’s not a law against that!”
Protesters continued to shout at Tai to respect their space, while they aggressively encroached upon his. They pushed and shoved until successfully pushing him far enough away from the scene.
Apparently unnoticed, Mark Schierbecker, a student reporter who was recording video, slipped past the wall of angry protesters and approached the area.
Daringly, he identified himself as a member of the media, and asked the protesters if he could talk with them.
Dr. Melissa Click, a communications professor at MU responded, shouting, “No! You need to get out.” After Click attempted to grab Schierbecker’s camera, she turned to the mob and asked for “muscle” to move him out of the way.
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So, in an attempt to tell the story, Tai and Schierbecker inadvertently became the story.
Why wouldn’t the protesters want their story to be told? Isn’t that the point of a protest – to broadcast discontent in an effort to change the establishment? Why would a communications professor (one who teaches journalism classes, for goodness sake) be so staunchly anti-media?
What does this aggressive display of anti-media say about the state of journalism in our country?
Not much.
