Someone will pick up this issue and see it’s rich with headlines, anecdotes, analyses and purpose. Someone else will stroll past artwork and wonder what it means to spill your heart out onto a canvas when some stronger forces may not allow a message to be voiced. Another person will walk by a protest and wonder what all the fuss is about.
This will all happen on university campuses because it’s the rare space where these acts coexist.
This issue was born on May 15, after a hectic workday. Five Ubyssey editors gathered in our office after being scattered across campus — some covered a vigil in solidarity with Palestine outside a Vancouver Senate meeting and a tumultuous hours-long sit-in at Koerner Library, while others ran to-and-from the office to find press passes, cameras, notebooks, recording devices, chargers, batteries, food and water for reporters unable to leave their posts in fear they would miss important moments.
At 10 p.m., the five of us, covered in the office’s blankets, sat on chairs or sprawled across the desks — first in tired silence, then in reflection. That day, we saw similarities in the way student protesters and student journalists were treated by people in positions of authority. It got us thinking: what happens when student journalists and protesters alike are unable to do their jobs — report and demonstrate — amid increasing barriers?
As student journalists, we have a duty to hold power to account. We are often alongside protesters, covering demonstrations and getting the same arrest warnings. Reporting and protesting hold common ground in finding value in amplifying voices. Anyone can share their voice, be a voice, initiate change — maybe taking action is being human.
In this issue, we explore what it means to have been a student on UBC’s campus in recent months with an ever-evolving protest and news landscape — from stories about police impacts on student movements, how federal laws impact community access to news and what role art plays in campus activism.
Despite the setbacks, pushback and backlash, student journalism is here because of people like you. Thank you.
— Iman Janmohamed & Fiona Sjaus
This article is part of The Ubyssey's 2024 student action supplement, Press the Issue.
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