As Missouri Activists Block Journalists, a Divide Over ‘Respect’ and Rights

COLUMBIA, Mo. — A video that showed University of Missouri protesters restricting a student photographer’s access to a public area of campus on Monday ignited discussions about press freedom.

Tim Tai, a student photographer on freelance assignment for ESPN, was trying to take photos of a small tent city that protesters had created on a campus quad. Concerned Student 1950, an activist group that formed to push for increased awareness and action around racial issues on campus, did not want reporters near the encampment.

Protesters blocked Mr. Tai’s view and argued with him, eventually pushing him away. At one point, they chanted, “Hey hey, ho ho, reporters have got to go.”“I am documenting this for a national news organization,” Mr. Tai told the protesters, adding that “the First Amendment protects your right to be here and mine.”

The protesters accused him of acting unethically and disregarding their requests for privacy.

A woman signaled support Monday as she passed student protesters’ tent encampment at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
“What is so hard about respecting our wishes?” one protester asked.

“Because I have a job to do,” Mr. Tai answered. That elicited a retort: “We don’t care about your job.”

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"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

Kobie said:

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

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Baffling. They made a 'tent city' in the quad and wanted it to be private? Don't protesters usually hate to be ignored?

Kobie said:

"Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing."

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Wut? They know exactly what they are doing. And it's disgraceful.

Mizzou has a very respected journalism school, too.

Just further evidence that these "black lives matter" Mike Brown conspiracy theorist nut jobs should not have been rewarded.

tres borrachos said:

Wut? They know exactly what they are doing. And it's disgraceful.

Mizzou has a very respected journalism school, too.

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Are you a student who knows what is happening?

tres borrachos said:

Wut? They know exactly what they are doing. And it's disgraceful.

Mizzou has a very respected journalism school, too.

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This is liberal nihilism gone wild. You know that every actor is this farcical drama is a leftist and it is kinda fun to watch them eat their own. Sit back and enjoy it.

Fletch said:

This is liberal nihilism gone wild. You know that every actor is this farcical drama is a leftist and it is kinda fun to watch them eat their own. Sit back and enjoy it.

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They were outraged about this on MSNBC this morning. I mean, seriously outraged. They were discussing the entire filthy situation at the University and then went on to discuss this and show some clips, and said what they thought of these obnoxious protestors and how absolutely out of line they were. I didn't even know about it until this morning. I couldn't believe what I saw.

Fletch said:

This is liberal nihilism gone wild. You know that every actor is this farcical drama is a leftist and it is kinda fun to watch them eat their own. Sit back and enjoy it.

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I'm not enjoying it, but it's certainly a spectacle.

One of the journalism professors asked for "muscle" to remove a student journalist and proclaimed that "you are not allowed to take my photograph".

Seriously. A journalism professor that doesn't understand public photography laws AND freedom of the press. More evidence academia is so far out in left field they are in the parking lot.

The quote of the day yesterday -- and I wish I could remember who said it:

"So let me get this straight... college is a boiling caldron of racism and rape culture... that everyone should be able to attend?"

Oh the first world privileged thin-skinned solipsism of the 21st century university campus.

Samhain said:

One of the journalism professors asked for "muscle" to remove a student journalist and proclaimed that "you are not allowed to take my photograph".

Seriously. A journalism professor that doesn't understand public photography laws AND freedom of the press. More evidence academia is so far out in left field they are in the parking lot.

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Here she is:

The inmates are running the asylum.

Honestly, they threatened to call the cops on the media....Lol !

Here's a video of the incident:

The funniest part might be that the leader of this campus lunacy was engaged in a hunger strike lol. Hard to argue that black lives matter when you have a black guy willing to end his own life to oust a liberal dean from a college campus. That's just too funny. This is just a band of immature, entitled, leftist, modern day rebels without a cause.

Samhain said:

One of the journalism professors asked for "muscle" to remove a student journalist and proclaimed that "you are not allowed to take my photograph".

Seriously. A journalism professor that doesn't understand public photography laws AND freedom of the press. More evidence academia is so far out in left field they are in the parking lot.

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From what I've heard the student protesters have authored a list of demands, and that these demands are off the page, off in that parking lot with the academics.

Makes you kinda wonder where these ridiculous ideas are implanted in their pointy little heads. :roll:

Grim17 said:

Here she is:

View attachment 67192664

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Is it any wonder these kids act the way they do when they are taught by liberal purveyors of chaos like this lady.

This is definitely a case of liberal chickens coming home to roost. Specifically white liberal enablers.

there is big racial problem in Columbia Missouri but it's not what the barely literate football players got white useful idiot liberals to believe. It's black on white crime.

eohrnberger said:

From what I've heard the student protesters have authored a list of demands, and that these demands are off the page, off in that parking lot with the academics.

Makes you kinda wonder where these ridiculous ideas are implanted in their pointy little heads. :roll:

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I want to know whether the student protesters are attending their classes and if not what the consequences will be.

nota bene said:

I want to know whether the student protesters are attending their classes and if not what the consequences will be.

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They will get an excused absence with the ability to redo all of the missed work due to the stress caused by the administration without appropriate trigger warnings and safe spaces. I'm sure there is a college buzzword or two I'm missing in there, but that is the sad sad state of Universities these days. As Fenton already stated, the inmates are running the asylum.

In a few years, I suspect there will be a growing group of no-show college students who are perpetually enrolled, at no additional cost, that don't live on campus, attend class, take exams, or in any way participate in the educational process, yet are still classified as students. Too many ways to be offended for them to venture anywhere near other people. After 6 or 7 years, they will probably sue for a degree they didn't earn, and win.

This will change not only colleges but high schools, you watch. Still ahead paying athletes I mean all athletes from ping pong to football, unionizing, etc. They now have shown the power to shut down universities everywhere if anything does not suit their point of view.

Oh this is just rich:

Woman Calling for "Muscle" To Block Reporter From Mizzou Demonstrations Is a Professor of Mass Media



Hey! I want media attention.........two days later.......GET OUT OF HERE MEDIA!!!!

Zyphlin said:

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What annoys me is that the safe space is a really good practice for dealing with persons who have experienced trauma and now it's become a trivialized de facto exercise with everything someone doesn't want to be confronted with.

The universities are a playground for real-life politics and social issues, but it's mostly still just a playground. That hasn't changed since the 1960s, whereby the leaders of the SDS saw democratic capitalism's superstructures replicated in the university. They knew it wasn't the real deal, but they could still act like it was the real deal to prepare them for the real deal-outside the university. This was reflective of the fact that it was a transition to adult life, whereby one wasn't quite a child anymore, but they were also somewhat isolated from the responsibility and harm found in mainstream society all the same. So university politics have (relatively speaking) always been this completely disproportionate response to transgressions.

The safe space is this really useful technique meant to reduce pretty significant stress and anxiety related to pretty significant trauma triggered by otherwise innocuous events (or really visible stressors), but now it's being diluted to social and political mental comfort when facing any sort of intellectual challenge.

This does a disservice to future advocates of systems change (you know, those minority populations), because while university politics have always been outside of the mainstream, university politics still tended to at least propel future advocates to being able to address the public or "the system" in a manner that it can recognize. It may comfort the "victim" now and look really really good on social media, but does it prepare the victim to be able to do what is necessary to actually create meaningful change? No, it does not. A local and state legislature, for instance, already has enough difficulty understanding the basic issues involved and may come at it from an adversarial manner. What are we going to do when that happens? Shriek from the necessary responsibility of doing what is needed in order to get needed legislation and moneys our way, run to our "safe spaces" that may be nearby? No. You have to do the dirty work and you have to fight the old fashioned way, because that's how you get things done.

Worse yet, since the safe space has already become a parody unto itself, it's now only going to exacerbate what oppressed minorities will claim already happens with powerful majorities. Powerful majorities, already whiny about being presented with an intellectual challenge themselves, can easily claim mental and emotional discomfort at being presented with an intellectual challenge from an oppressed minority. They will need a 'safe space' from the 'horrors' of secularism, multiculturalism, and Marxism.

Let's not even get into how this truly impacts academic life.

Where is the campus police (or real ones) to protect the student being harassed? Maybe they are afraid of how it will look. I also wonder if the faculty who are pushing students, and prohibiting students from sharing the public space, will be reprimanded.