The Canadian Association of Journalists is calling on Humber to ensure student journalists are free to document campus issues without having to obtain approval from the college administration.
After an article talking about the mistreatment Journalism students are suffering at Humber became popular on Twitter, the CAJ released a statement saying Humber must cancel the Temporary Use of Space policy for violating press freedom.
“Student journalists are real journalists,” CAJ president Brent Jolly said in the statement. “Institutions must acknowledge the vital role student journalists play on campuses across Canada in providing critical information and perspectives to their community.”
The article mentioned by CAJ was about third-year journalism students Makayla Verbruggen and Kyshia Osei trying to take footage of the Starbucks location near the College’s main public entrance, and being confronted by an employee who later called security.
Humber introduced the policy in 2019, but due to the pandemic, few students had encountered it until the fall when many classes returned in-person.
The College said the policy is “meant to ensure public safety when events like vendor sales, art shows, performances, information tables or student film shoots take place on campus.”
But it is also being used to require journalism students working on class assignments to fill out a permit request form, which could take up to 15 business days to process.
“This presents obvious and unacceptable barriers for student journalists,” said Jolly.
“News rarely gives 15 days advance notice, and issues of key importance on campus may not always come with an open invitation to film from campus administration. For an institution that trains the next generation of journalists, this policy is absolutely preposterous.”
The statement comes ahead of a departmental meeting Tuesday afternoon of college officials to review the policy and how it applies to journalism students.
Humber students react to the incident online
The story has struck a nerve with many current and former journalism students who decided to share their experiences on social media.
Journalists are supporting Humber students
Humber Journalism students are receiving support with comments, retweets and shares from Journalists across Canada.