College administrators and student newspaper reporters have a fraught history. It’s not uncommon to hear of administrators stonewalling student journalists’ efforts by refusing to participate in stories, attempting to silence them or simply ignoring them altogether.
This approach never made sense to us. In a piece for Poynter, Erin and I wrote about why and offered advice for administrators on how to make meaningful inroads with student journalists that benefit everyone.
Later the same week, Poynter’s director of college programming, Barbara Allen, used our piece in her column to introduce practical advice to student journalists on how to best to make requests of administrators and how to ensure accuracy and fairness when met with resistance.
This is a topic we’re passionate about and we’d love to hear your stories about what’s worked for you when it comes to improving relationships between student reporters and the institutions they cover. Comment below or connect with us on Twitter, @ErinAHennessy and @kristinemaloney or LinkedIn.
Photo by Brad Neathery on Unsplash