While the news industry struggles, college students are supplying some memorable journalism
An investigation into academic research leads to the resignation of Stanford University's president
NEW YORK — Within the past year, young journalists have produced investigations that led to the resignation of Stanford University's president, the firing of Northwestern University's football coach, and a school shooting graphic so striking that it led a veteran newsman to say, “I've never seen a better front page.”
All while making sure to get their homework in on time.
A news industry that has been shedding jobs as long as they've been alive, and the risk of harassment when their work strikes nerves hasn't dimmed the enthusiasm of many college students — often unpaid — who are keeping the flame alive with noteworthy journalism.
“At the end of the day, journalism is a public good, and it attracts people who want to do service for others,” said Theo Baker, a Stanford University sophomore whose stories about faulty scientific research prompted a university investigation and eventual resignation of Stanford's president, Marc Tessier-Lavigne.
Baker's work, as a freshman, earned him a George Polk Award in journalism, the first time Polk had ever honored work in an independent, student-run newspaper.
The Daily Northwestern's explosive interview this summer with a former football player about alleged hazing was key to the firing of head coach Pat Fitzgerald, who is suing for wrongful termination.
The Columbia Daily Spectator in New York conducted a months-long probe that found toxic working conditions within the university's public safety department. The Harvard Crimson tracked the money in an investigation into stolen funds at the Harvard Undergraduate Foreign Policy Initiative.
Students nationally are holding people in power
Read more on abcnews.go.com
