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00:03 Student journalists on the Columbia University campus
00:07 had watched the situation of pro-Palestinian encampment
00:10 in their campus grow to a historical moment.
00:15 They observed the situation spiraling for the worse
00:18 as protesters stood their ground and refused
00:21 to abandon Hamilton Hall.
00:23 They even used a police system to bring supplies
00:26 into the building they occupied.
00:30 The police operation that cleared out
00:32 Hamilton Hall on Tuesday night capped two weeks of drama
00:36 at Columbia, and student journalists at the Ivy League
00:39 school were there to cover it.
00:41 We've spoken to a lot of people who
00:45 are very established in the media industry who have said--
00:49 who have basically prepared us for what's
00:51 to come in terms of layoffs and the instability
00:56 of this industry.
00:56 But I think in the past few days,
00:58 we've really realized the importance
01:00 of having reliable, accurate, and fair coverage of what's
01:04 happening.
01:05 And student journalism is very important in this situation.
01:11 These reporters were the only ones
01:13 who could capture what was happening,
01:15 since other media were being kept off campus.
01:18 Student journalists are in the center of everything
01:22 as anger rises on American campuses this spring.
01:27 They're immersed in the story in ways
01:29 journalists for major media organizations often cannot
01:33 match.
01:34 And they face the double dilemma of being
01:37 members of the media and students at the institutions
01:40 they are covering.
01:42 Separating my student identity to my journalism work
01:45 has definitely been something that I've been thinking about a
01:48 lot recently.
01:49 And I think at the moment, I'm definitely
01:51 just trying to report as accurately and as fairly
01:54 as I can and place my sentiments about the conflict aside.
01:58 Fear and anger were obvious in the voices
02:01 of students who narrate the action on Columbia's WKCR
02:05 radio on Tuesday.
02:08 The station's website even went down briefly,
02:12 since so many were listening to an audio stream.
02:15 They later recommended their audience
02:17 to tune into FM radio instead.
02:21 There was a possibility for us of arrest, or at least a worry
02:25 that we would get arrested while reporting on this.
02:28 So just as a safety precaution, we
02:30 wrote phone numbers onto our arms of people
02:33 that we could contact in case we lose our phones or whatever
02:35 happens.
02:37 Around the clock reporting from protests at campuses
02:39 nationwide, student disciplinary hearings and overnight virgils
02:44 at encampments turned to morning classes, homework,
02:47 and final projects in between interviews.
02:51 The protest movement has become a training ground for students
02:55 to grapple with complicated editorial decisions
02:58 for the first time in their careers.
03:01 Many had to confront the awkwardness of reporting
03:04 on their peers and the challenge to not get swept up
03:07 in emotion.
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03:32 you