On October 14, Indiana University unjustly fired Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush after he refused to bow to university pressure to censor the Indiana Daily Student.

Jim has always been a beloved and fierce defender of student journalism, and it’s been amazing to see the IDS community rally around him.

We’re raising money to help support Jim, his wife and their three children as he figures out what’s next for him professionally.

(Don’t worry — we made sure Jim was OK with this before setting it up! All funds raised will go directly to him.)

WHAT HAPPENED

IU Media School administrators told Jim on Oct. 7 that the physical copy of the IDS’s forthcoming homecoming special edition should contain "no other news at all, and particularly no traditional front page news coverage."

An exception could be made for copies of the IDS distributed off campus, according to the administration, but the print editions on campus stands could not contain news.

Jim declined to tell the students what they could or could not print, and told administrators that doing so would be censorship.

A week later, Media School Dean David Tolchinsky fired Jim. “Your lack of leadership and ability to work in alignment with the University’s direction for the Student Media Plan is unacceptable,” his termination letter read.

The next day, university administration ordered the student publication to cease printing physical newspapers.

FAQS

Q: What was Jim’s role at the IDS?

A: As director of student media, Jim did not directly oversee or have any say over what did or did not run in the paper. His job was to support students and act as a liaison between the paper and the university.

Q: The paper still exists online, right? How is this censorship?

A: The IDS runs off a charter that governs how IU can help financially manage the publication while students retain full say over what content is published.

IU telling students what can be printed in the paper — physical or otherwise — is more than a breach of that editorial independence; it’s censorship.

“That's ludicrous and absolutely illegal,” Student Press Law Center Senior Legal Counsel Mike Hiestand told the IndyStar.

Suggesting that students could distribute news stories off campus but not on IU grounds is also clear censorship.

As the current student editors of the IDS put it : “What happens when the university decides it’s had enough of our digital presence? That our independent reporting doesn’t benefit ‘the campus?’ Perhaps if our deficit continues online…cutting back operations entirely could be framed as a budgetary decision.”

Q: Isn’t cutting print a straightforward business decision?

A: No. Print media might be declining nationally, but the IDS’s print paper was still generating revenue .

It’s no secret that the IDS has had financial troubles for years, and the Media School even bailed the paper out from its deficit last year. But IU has rejected every good-faith effort by students and alumni to restructure the IDS to make it financially viable long term.

By virtue of its charter with the university, all donations to IDS are routed through the IU Foundation, the university’s philanthropic arm. The students cannot change the business structure of the IDS, spend from the paper’s own funds, or even fundraise without university approval.

When the paper was on track to run out of money in 2021, the school declined students’ pitch to fundraise by selling IDS-branded merchandise.

The IDS Legacy Fund currently has more than $400,000, but the university told Jim it would not let the paper use the money for operational costs.

WHAT ELSE YOU CAN DO

FURTHER READING

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This GoFundMe is being run by Caroline Anders, IU B.A.J. 2021 and IDS Spring 2021 co-editor-in-chief. Questions? Contact me using the form above.