Written November 4, 2025.
On October 14, Indiana University cut the print version of the Indiana Student Daily newspaper. Effectively pausing 158 years of print journalism. Pausing 158 years of students’ voices being heard.
Two hours before pausing 158 years of student voices in print, the University fired the Indiana Daily Student [IDS] advisor and student media director Jim Rodenbush for not complying with censoring the paper.
While the decision to cut the print version of the IDS was reversed on October 30 by the University, and can be seen as a win, it demonstrated the power that student voices have to create change. From the news and opinion pieces published in the IDS to the public outcry about the limitation of free speech, young voices are proven to matter.
Student journalism matters because it gives people a voice and a platform to be heard. When the University first attempted to regulate the IDS, Purdue’s newspaper, The Exponent, stepped in, sending over 3,000 copies of its newspaper to the Indiana University campus. “WE STUDENT JOURNALISTS MUST STAND TOGETHER” was plastered on the front page, showing solidarity with the current censorship of student journalism and student voices. Reminding people that student voice cannot and must not be silenced.
Seemingly, we are in an era where politicians, state and federal alike, are testing the water by removing censorship and students’ freedom of speech.
“Telling student journalists what they can and cannot include in a newspaper is censorship of ‘editorial content’ by any definition,” Kris Cundiff said, the IDS’ attorney.
This is not the University’s first run-in with limiting students’ freedom of speech. In the early 1970s, IU student Greogory Hess, during a Vietnam protest on the campus, was arrested for “shouting an obscenity-laced statement, urging a crowd of 150 demonstrators to retake a street that police had just cleared. Hess was charged with disorderly conduct and convicted in city court,” according to an article from the IDS.
Through a process of appeals, the case was taken to the Supreme Court, and the court ruled on the side of Hess’, reiterating the right that students have to non-violent expression of free speech.
IU has a rich history of giving students a platform for expression. From their column dedicated to representing black voices to the coverage of political action on their campus, the IDS’ mission statement is to “contribute to and enrich an atmosphere of free inquiry, expression, and discussion.” They further state that to achieve this mission statement, the exercise of freedom and independence is necessary.
We, at the FOCUS, understand the importance of student journalism because without voices are lost, stories are untold, and opportunities to learn about the world and each other disappear. Each story that is written and told is a chance to empathize, to learn and to ultimately learn about the human condition. Defending students’ voices is not optional but essential. The university’s most recent run-in with students’ First Amendment right of expression serves as a reminder, not only about the importance of student journalism, but an example of why not to back down. Without the voices of now, the voices of the past, present and future will be silenced, making today’s fight ever more important.
