Student journalist jailed

Hi Katy,

I was looking at PerezHilton (guilty pleasure!) and an article was posted about a journalism student who was sentenced to prison for asking questions about 'women's rights under Islam.' Thought you may find it interesting!

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27297183/

(Follow links back, as well, for coverage of a claim of torture.)

Paying the Ultimate Price

It's been a bloody week for journalism in Iraq. The Washington Post lost a reporter who worked in its Baghdad bureau. (Check out this moving tribute from his colleagues.) And an Iraqi newspaper lost three employees in an ambush.
The Committee to Protect Journalists reports 119 deaths among journalists in Iraq and 41 among support workers. In 2007 alone, 47 have perished.
What does it mean to pay this price to report? When journalists are a target, what else is sacrificed? Press freedom? Security? Information itself? Would you risk your life to tell a story? Are you glad that other people do or do you think it's unnecessary risk-taking? What stories are worth the risk and what stories are not?

Student Journalists Drawing Fire

What happens when a journalist at a student newspaper says something people don't like:
1. David McSwane in Colorado almost lost his job for running an editorial that said, "F*** Bush"
2. a student newspaper in Arizona is apologizing for a cartoon many called anti-semitic
3. you read earlier about shenanigans in Connecticut and Florida
What responsibility do student journalists have? What is offensive? What should a public university do to rein in student news organizations? Should things be different at a private university? How well are you served by the Badger Herald and Daily Cardinal? Do they ever offend you? What avenues do you have to respond?

Discussion Arena

A 202-er sent this link in after reading about the offensive rape story in the Central Connecticut State University student paper that's posted to our discussion arena. The paper ran a comic strip that has again raised concerns:
NEW BRITAIN - The campus newspaper at Central Connecticut State University, which came under fire earlier this year for printing a satirical article extolling the virtues of rape, is the target of angry protests again after it printed a comic strip this week that made reference to locking a teenage Hispanic girl in a closet and urinating on her.
Check out the whole story.
What responsibilities do student editors have? Should university administration have the power to oust editors or writers? How do the papers here work (by the way, we're the only campus in the country with two daily student newspapers)? What recourse would you have if they published something that offended you? Should you have any recourse at all?