Mizzou Professor Who Confronted Photojournalist Quits Journalism Appointment

The dean of the journalism school, David Kurpius, said in a statement Tuesday that he “handled himself professionally and with poise”.

In the written statement, Professor Mitchell S. McKinney said the department “supports the First Amendment as a fundamental right and guiding principle underlying all that we do as an academic community”. Richard Callahan, a religious studies professor, was seen in Schierbecker’s video chastising Tai as he was being swarmed by student-protesters. Video of Basler shows her berating and having physical contact with student-journalist Tim Tai, who was on assignment for ESPN and trying to take photographs of the scene.

Covering Schierbecker’s video-camera lens with her hand, Click says, in a derisive tone: “Yeah, I know, that’s a really good one; I’m a communication faculty, and I really get that argument”.

Concerned Student 1950, an activist group at the center of the protests, had created a small tent city on the campus quad, and they didn’t want photographers and journalists approaching the area. Tai was blocked and pushed back by protesters as he sought to stand his ground and claimed First Amendment rights to document the event on public grounds.

Basler also issued a statement last night, offering a “public apology to the journalist involved”.

But the “media chest-thumping” over the Mizzou video – that’s what the NY Times’ Lydia Polgreen called it – seems disinterested in examining the deeper distrust that Cobb, Herz, and Starr are pointing out, or seeing protesters’ refusal to engage with the press as part of the story, not an obstacle to the story. Providing a safe space for protesters to be alone is fine, but have designated media representatives at that safe space to protect those who need privacy.

Later in the 12 minutes of footage, Click is filmed walking the perimeter of a student wall much like a general surveying the troops.

The University of Missouri campus, in a state of turmoil following Monday’s resignation of president Tim Wolfe after months of racial tension, has been thronged by hundreds of local and national reporters. “I’ve done everything that’s required of me and it will be official if it isn’t already”, Schierbecker said. Click has reportedly apologized to Schierbecker in person, but the student said he still hopes charges will be pressed against the professor. “In the home of one of the world’s great journalism schools, such behavior cannot be tolerated”. In that capacity she holds a courtesy appointment with the School of Journalism. “Journalism School faculty members are taking immediate action to review that appointment”, he said.

In a statement issued yesterday, Click apologized for her actions. We reiterate our commitment as communication scholars to the transformative power of dialogue; we believe words shape our realities and that engaging multiple perspectives is vital.

No doubt these intolerant people consider themselves heroes, hence a SuperCut of a few of the craziest moments from Mark Schierbecker’s footage of University of Missouri protesters. Tai, who was taken aback by the development, tweeted he was troubled by the threats. “It has made me question a lot of things”, Kratzer told me. “Maybe they didn’t understand how public spaces work”.