What will be taken away from the controversy surrounding the University of Missouri?

Will it be that racism is still alive at one of the largest universities in America? Will it be that college football teams are more powerful than we may have originally thought? Will it be the realization students have power to change the way a university functions when working together?

All parts of this complex and important story will be remembered. But one small incident is concerning to members of the media.

Following the resignation of Mizzou’s system president Monday, some supporters of #ConcernedStudent1950 harassed Tim Tai, a student photojournalist on assignment for ESPN.com.

Tai, attempting to document the historic moment at the University of Missouri’s flagship campus, found himself being yelled at and eventually pushed by students and faculty.

“Hey hey, ho ho, reporters have got to go,” the crowd behind the supporters chanted, making a wall to block journalists from taking photos or interviewing students. Signs scattered throughout the lawn read, “No Media—Safe Space.”

The incident between Tai and protestors was recorded and posted on YouTube under the title, “#ConcernedStudent1950 vs the media.”

“You don’t have a right to take our photos,” one member of the group told Tai.

This goes on for a while. Tai at one point says, “It is the First Amendment that protects your right to stand here, and mine.”

While we understand this moment must have been emotional for the students involved, the First Amendment does indeed protect the rights of both reporters and assemblers to be in a public space.

Unfortunately this incident provoked by protestors at Mizzou made their lack of education of media law a part of the story, which sets back the change they want.

The protestors could have simply ignored Tai and other media members. We understand nobody is required to talk to the media. Nobody is required to give his or her name to the media. But, when in a public space, they consent to have their photos taken.

They were in the wrong, and put more attention on themselves than the racial issues. The confrontation took away from their cause.

If something like this occurs on our campus, we hope students and administrators will allow us to write about and photograph the event. As a student-run news organization, our job is to document the history of SIU and the issues its students and faculty face every day to the best of our ability.

We understand some people often don’t trust the media, however we have not only the right but also the obligation to cover momentous events in public places.

We continually encourage students and faculty to use the Daily Egyptian as an outlet to voice opinions about critical issues occurring on or near our campus. 

 Do you have an opinion about the issues surrounding the assembly at Mizzou? Email us a letter to the editor at [email protected] and we may publish it.