The University of Missouri clarified its policy requiring all UM System employees to act as mandated reporters. Before the update, student journalists were not explicitly exempt from turning over confidential source names and were required to report incidents of harassment or discrimination to their respective Title IX offices.

In September 2023, SPFI wrote to President Mun Choi urging MU to update university policy after staff members at The Maneater alerted the organization that there was no exemption for student journalists. 

A year prior, MU committed to formally exempting journalists from mandated reporting, but as of September 2023, the policy was not formally amended. 

At the time, MU assistant vice chancellor and Title IX administrator for the Office of Institutional Equity, Andy Hayes, indicated the university never recognized journalists as mandated reporters, but acknowledged that an exemption to keep sources confidential did not appear in official policy. 

“[R]equiring student journalists to report pre-publication newsgathering information to university officials threatens freedom of the press,” wrote Lindsie Rank of the Student Press Counsel.

As explained by Rank, public universities, including MU, must adhere to the First Amendment, yet mandating student journalists to turn over source names to university administration prior to publication establishes unconstitutional prior review. 

Additionally, Rank notes that the release of source names impedes source confidentiality, which could compromise the validity and privacy of investigations. Before the update, if a potential source mentioned being victim of a campus sexual assault, student journalists employed by MU would be required to report the incident, regardless of the victim’s wishes. Non-compliance with the policy could previously result in disciplinary action for the student journalist.

In response, MU updated the Title IX FAQs to list journalists among health care providers, counselors, and lawyers as “[university] employees with a legal obligation or privilege of confidentiality,” thus exempting them from the responsibilities of mandated reporters.

MU also noted that student journalists employed by the university in other capacities — such as resident assistants, work-study students and researchers — are not required to report incidents revealed to them in a journalistic capacity. 

“As the home to one of the prestigious journalism schools in the country, we’re excited that the University of Missouri has fully committed to protecting its student journalists,” said Rank in a press released by FIRE. “Student journalists must remain free to investigate and report on sexual assault and other forms of discrimination and harassment, and survivors must remain free to share their stories with reporters without fear that an interview will launch an institutional investigation.”

Edited by Genevieve Smith | gsmith@themaneater.com

Copy edited by Sterling Sewell | ssewell@themaneater.com 

Edited by Sophie Rentschler | srentschler@themaneater.com