Tag: Media

  • Media in Bangladesh get caught up in anti-India attacks

    Media in Bangladesh get caught up in anti-India attacks

    Speculation spreads.

    At the time of the attack, Hadi was campaigning for parliamentary elections scheduled for February 2026, elections meant to restore civilian rule after months of interim governance led by Nobel laureate Muhammad Yunus.

    Almost immediately after Hadi’s shooting, speculation filled the vacuum left by unanswered questions.

    Protesters accused the interim government of negligence, while social media amplified claims, without evidence, that the attackers had fled to India. “India killed Hadi” became a rallying cry in protest marches from Dhaka to Chattogram.

    “This wasn’t just about justice for one man,” said Zaheer Ahmad, a political analyst in Dhaka. “Hadi’s death became a vessel for accumulated anger, against the state, against elites, and against India.”

    That anger soon found a tangible target. Newsrooms perceived as sympathetic to the former Awami League government — or insufficiently hostile toward India — were singled out.

    Media takes the blame.

    On 18 December, mobs stormed Prothom Alo and The Daily Star, ransacking offices, looting more than 150 laptops and desktops and torching sections of the buildings. Journalists described choking smoke, emergency stairwells blocked by debris and colleagues helping one another escape through back doors.

    “For decades, we reported from conflict zones,” said editor Meezan Khan. “We never imagined our own newsroom would become one.”

    The violence spread beyond media houses. Cultural institutions such as Chhayanaut were vandalized.

    Nurul Kabir, editor of New Age, was assaulted while trying to help trapped journalists. For the first time in Bangladesh’s history, the country’s two largest newspapers suspended both print and online operations simultaneously.

    International press freedom groups reacted with alarm. The UN Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Expression called the attacks “deeply disturbing,” while free speech advocacy organization ARTICLE 19 warned that Bangladesh was entering “a phase of open hostility toward independent media.”

    Journalists caught in communal crossfire

    As protests intensified, journalists, particularly from minority communities, faced growing danger. On 18 December, Dipu Chandra Das, a Hindu journalist who also ran a small grocery shop in Mymensingh district, was lynched and set on fire by a mob.

    Local police cited allegations of derogatory remarks, but colleagues and rights groups say the killing occurred amid politically charged unrest.

    In separate incidents, a Hindu factory owner was shot dead in Jashore, and a Hindu woman was gang-raped and tortured in Khulna district. While fact-checkers caution against exaggeration and misinformation, minority communities report a sharp rise in fear since Hasina’s removal.

    “Hindus are seen as extensions of India,” said, Mohammad Jameel, a rights activist in Dhaka. “That perception makes them targets when anti-India sentiment spikes.”

    Bangladesh’s interim government has condemned the attacks, but critics say protection has been inadequate. Human Rights Watch reports hundreds of journalists detained or charged since August 2024, often under vague accusations of “instigating unrest.”

    Economic anger beneath the slogans

    Behind the political slogans lies deep economic anxiety. Bangladesh’s economy, once hailed as a South Asian success story, has slowed under inflation, unemployment and post-pandemic strain. Youth unemployment remains stubbornly high, while growth has dipped below pre-Covid levels.

    The protests that toppled Hasina began over student job quotas but quickly evolved into broader demands for accountability and reform. Anti-India narratives, framed around water-sharing disputes, trade imbalances and alleged political interference, have offered protesters a clear external villain.

    “India has become shorthand for everything people feel powerless about,” said an economist based in Dhaka. “It simplifies complex failures into a single enemy.”

    Social media has played a decisive role in amplifying anger. Platforms like X have been flooded with videos, slogans and claims, many misleading or false, blaming India for Hadi’s death and exaggerating communal violence.

    Fact-checking organizations have debunked viral claims of “genocide” and mis-captioned videos recycled from unrelated incidents.

    Disinformation fuels the fire.

    A recent EU DisinfoLab report documented long-running influence operations involving Indian-linked networks spreading anti-Bangladesh narratives, while local disinformation within Bangladesh has fueled communal mistrust. Caught in the middle are journalists, accused simultaneously of serving Indian interests and of endangering national stability.

    “We’re attacked online as Indian agents, and offline as enemies of the people,” said, Abdul Qyoom a Dhaka-based reporter. “There is no safe space left.”

    The turmoil has implications far beyond Bangladesh’s borders. India–Bangladesh relations, already strained by Hasina’s exile, have deteriorated further amid vandalism of Indian diplomatic properties and cultural symbols. Analysts warn that unchecked disinformation risks inflaming communal tensions in India as well, where reports of anti-Hindu violence, often exaggerated, are used to stoke Islamophobia.

    Despite the hostility, India continues to supply Bangladesh with food grains, electricity and water. Yet public perception in Bangladesh remains deeply skeptical.

    “Diplomacy cannot survive if public anger is this raw,” said a former Bangladeshi diplomat. “And press freedom is often the first casualty.”

    Bangladesh now ranks near the bottom of global press freedom indices. Editors warn of rising self-censorship as reporters weigh professional duty against personal safety.

    India-Bangladesh tensions rise.

    With elections approaching and political tensions unresolved, journalists fear the worst may be yet to come.

    “The press is being punished for reflecting reality,” said Usmaan Ahmad, another senior editor. “When truth becomes dangerous, democracy is already in trouble.”

    Relations between India and Bangladesh have sharply deteriorated since the ouster of Sheikh Hasina, plunging from a “Golden Era” of cooperation to a phase marked by recrimination and distrust by January 2026. Tensions escalated after India provided refuge to Hasina following her resignation, a move seen by many in Bangladesh as supporting an “autocratic” leader.

    The interim Bangladeshi government has formally sought her extradition to face trial for alleged crimes during the 2024 uprising, and India’s refusal has become a major bilateral irritant.

    Violence against the Hindu minority in Bangladesh, including the lynching of Dipu Chandra Das, a 25-year-old Hindu garment factory worker in December 2025, has drawn sharp Indian condemnation.

    In response, right-wing groups in India staged protests near the Bangladesh High Commission New Delhi and vandalized the visa center in Siliguri, further deepening mutual suspicion between the two countries.

    Questions to consider:

    1. Why do some people blame the news media when political actions make them angry?

    2. Why did people in Bangladesh attack the offices of Prothom Alo and The Daily Star?

    3. Who do you tend to blame when something angers you?

    Source link

  • Catholic Briefly Banned Popular Social Media Site Reddit

    Catholic Briefly Banned Popular Social Media Site Reddit

    About half of 18- to 29-year-olds use Reddit, according to Pew Research.

    Illustration by Justin Morrison/Inside Higher Ed

    Students returning to the Catholic University of America Monday were outraged to discover that the university had blocked campus internet access to the popular social media site Reddit. But by Tuesday afternoon, administrators had reversed the ban, saying it had been automatically restricted by a third-party source that controls access to pornographic sites.

    The site had been available to students at the end of last semester, according to Felipe Avila, a nursing student and a member of the student government. But when students returned from break to the Washington, D.C., campus this week, they found they could no longer access the site. No other social media sites seemed to have been affected, he said, and administrators did not notify students or faculty of the change.

    When Avila discovered Reddit had been restricted, he submitted a ticket to the university’s Technology Services Support office to ask if it was a glitch or if the site had been blocked intentionally.

    “When I checked with our security they said that it was blocked because of certain content on the platform and also because of phishing and malicious links that are on that site,” a staff member responded in an email to Avila.

    The ban wasn’t entirely out of left field: In 2019, Catholic University banned access to the 200 most popular pornography websites after the student government passed a resolution advocating for such a ban. But Reddit isn’t a pornographic site; it’s a social media site with well over 100 million daily active users who can read and post in forums called subreddits dedicated to specific topics. According to Pew Research, 48 percent of individuals aged 18 to 29 surveyed in early 2025 said they use Reddit at least occasionally.

    Reddit is one of just a few social media sites that allow users to post sexually explicit material, although it must be labeled appropriately and explicit images appear blurred until a user opts to reveal them. Other social media platforms that allow such content, such as X, which has allowed users to post sexual content since 2024, remained accessible on Catholic’s campus.

    Restriction Reversal

    After two days without answers from administrators, Avila said, the university reversed the ban, attributing the situation to an automated system that restricts access to a list of pornographic sites, university spokesperson Karna Lozoya said in an emailed statement. That list is compiled by a third-party organization, she said, which recently added Reddit.

    “The site was flagged in accord with a policy established in 2019—at the recommendation of the Student Government Association—to block access to the top pornography sites from the University network. Student leaders at the time noted their concerns about the risks of these sites, including exploitation of individuals, addiction, and security risks,” she said.

    The sites that were previously banned were “almost exclusively dedicated to serving pornography,” Lozoya noted. The university decided to reverse the ban on Reddit because its primary purpose is not to share explicit content.

    “In the interest of allowing access to its legitimate uses, access to Reddit.com has been restored to the campus network,” she wrote. “However, the University is taking this opportunity to remind students of the need for prudence, and to avoid consuming exploitative and degrading content.”

    Avila said the short-lived ban sparked outrage among students, some of whom use the platform as an academic resource. Students can join subreddits dedicated to different academic disciplines, like r/StudentNurse, a community of over 180,000, where nursing students can connect with their peers at institutions worldwide to vent or ask for advice.

    Dominic Coletti, a program officer with the free speech advocacy organization the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, warned that preventing students and faculty from accessing certain sites infringes on freedom of expression and academic freedom.

    “We’re concerned about this censorship for two reasons: First, Catholic promises its students free speech. That should include the ability to communicate anonymously with others at the university and in their community about what’s happening. That includes not-safe-for-work content, to be sure, but it also includes a wide swath of discussions about topics core to the work of a university,” he wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed. “Catholic also promises its faculty academic freedom. That includes the freedom to perform research online and to teach students using online resources. Banning social-media sites like Reddit infringe on faculty members’ ability to perform that research and to use these resources in teaching.”

    “The university did not have to promise its students and faculty members these expressive freedoms,” Coletti added. “Now that it has, it must protect those freedoms.”

    Before the ban was lifted, Avila and another student senator filed a resolution calling on the university to make its standards for web filtering more transparent and asking to be notified in advance of any new bans. Even though Reddit is now accessible again, they’re planning to move forward with the resolution.

    “Reversing the ban fixes the outcome, but not the oversight. We must codify protections for student expression to ensure that academic freedom is guaranteed by policy, not just public pressure,” he wrote in an email to Inside Higher Ed. “We look forward to working with the university to see this implemented.”

    Source link

  • Media Request to Turning Point USA about Protecting Children

    Media Request to Turning Point USA about Protecting Children

    Turning Point USA (TPUSA) presents itself as a youth-driven organization committed to “freedom,” “family values,” and protecting young people from ideological harm. Its events, chapters, conferences, and online ecosystem actively recruit high school and college students, many of them minors. That reality alone demands scrutiny. When an organization mobilizes thousands of young people, invites them into closed social networks, overnight conferences, mentorship relationships, and ideologically intense spaces, the question of safeguarding is not optional. It is foundational.

    The Higher Education Inquirer is formally requesting that Turning Point USA explain—clearly, publicly, and in detail—how it protects its juvenile members from abuse, exploitation, harassment, grooming, and radicalization.

    History shows what happens when powerful institutions prioritize reputation, growth, and loyalty over the safety of children. The Boy Scouts of America concealed decades of sexual abuse. The Catholic Church systematically reassigned abusive clergy while silencing victims. In both cases, leadership claimed moral authority while “looking the other way” to preserve power and legitimacy. These failures were not accidents; they were structural. They occurred in organizations that mixed hierarchy, ideology, secrecy, and minors.

    TPUSA operates in a similarly charged environment. Its chapters are often led by young adults with little training in youth protection. Its national leadership cultivates celebrity figures, informal mentorships, and a grievance-driven culture that discourages internal dissent. Its conferences place minors in proximity to adult influencers, donors, and political operatives. Yet TPUSA has not meaningfully explained what independent safeguards are in place to prevent abuse or misconduct.

    This concern is heightened by TPUSA’s proximity to extremist online subcultures. The organization has repeatedly intersected with or failed to decisively distance itself from INCEL-adjacent rhetoric and Groypers—a network associated with white nationalism, misogyny, antisemitism, and harassment campaigns targeting young people, especially women and LGBTQ students. Groypers, in particular, have demonstrated an ability to infiltrate conservative youth spaces, weaponize irony, and normalize dehumanizing ideas under the guise of “just asking questions.” These are not abstract risks. They are documented dynamics in digital youth radicalization.

    Young men who feel isolated, humiliated, or angry are especially vulnerable to grooming—not only sexual grooming, but ideological grooming that funnels resentment into rigid hierarchies and scapegoating narratives. When organizations valorize grievance, masculinity panic, and enemies within, they create conditions where abuse can flourish and victims are pressured into silence for the “greater cause.”

    TPUSA frequently positions itself as a protector of children against educators, librarians, and public schools. That posture invites reciprocal accountability. Who conducts background checks for chapter leaders and event staff? What mandatory reporting policies exist? Are there trauma-informed procedures for handling allegations? Are minors ever placed in unsupervised housing, transportation, or digital spaces with adults? What training is provided on boundaries, consent, and power dynamics? And crucially, what independent oversight exists beyond TPUSA’s own leadership and donors?

    Safeguarding cannot be reduced to slogans or moral posturing. It requires transparency, external review, and a willingness to confront uncomfortable truths—even when they implicate allies. Institutions that refuse such scrutiny do not protect children; they protect themselves.

    The Higher Education Inquirer awaits Turning Point USA’s response. Silence, deflection, or culture-war theatrics will only deepen concern. If TPUSA truly believes in protecting young people, it should welcome this scrutiny—and prove that it has learned from the catastrophic failures of institutions that came before it.

    Sources

    Wikipedia, “Turning Point USA”

    Wikipedia, “Boy Scouts of America sex abuse cases”

    Wikipedia, “Catholic Church sexual abuse cases”

    Anti-Defamation League, “Groyper Movement”

    Southern Poverty Law Center, reports on white nationalist youth recruitment and online radicalization

    Moonshot CVE, research on incel ideology and youth radicalization

    New York Times, reporting on abuse scandals in youth-serving institutions

    ProPublica, investigations into institutional cover-ups involving minors

    Source link

  • FIRE statement on Trump demand for social media history of foreign tourists

    FIRE statement on Trump demand for social media history of foreign tourists

    On Tuesday, the Trump administration announced that it would require foreign tourists to the United States to provide five years of social media history to enter the country. Americans have 60 days to comment on the proposal. FIRE plans to publish a formal comment outlining why this is a serious threat to free expression.

    The following can be attributed to Sarah McLaughlin, FIRE’s senior scholar for global expression:

    Those who hope to experience the wonders of the United States — from Yellowstone to Disneyland to Independence Hall — should not have to fear that self-censorship is a condition of entry. Requiring temporary visitors here for a vacation or business to surrender five years of their social media to the U.S. will send the message that the American commitment to free speech is pretense, not practice. This is not the behavior of a country confident in its freedoms.

    Americans should not feel that they must silence themselves at home for fear that their online expression will bar their access to travel overseas. Therefore we shouldn’t put tourists coming here in that bind. Call it the golden rule of free expression: Treat the speech of visitors the way we want to see Americans’ expression treated abroad. 

    Source link

  • Organic Social Media Best Practices for Higher Ed

    Organic Social Media Best Practices for Higher Ed

    In higher education, organic social media often serves as the front door of your institution’s brand. It’s the place where prospective and current students, parents, alumni, and donors first get a sense of your institution’s culture, values, and voice.

    Standing out in today’s saturated social media feeds requires more than just frequent posting. It’s about understanding what makes social media “social” and using it to connect with your audience in engaging ways.

    Below, we’ll explore best practices for higher education institutions looking to elevate their organic social media. With these tips, you can foster genuine engagement, all while infusing your brand’s unique personality in each post.

    What is Organic Social Media?

    Organic social media refers to the unpaid content your institution shares on platforms like Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Rather than running targeted, paid campaigns with these posts, organic social media relies on building and maintaining relationships with users who follow your institution’s accounts or come across your posts via recommendations made by platform algorithms.

    Organic social is where your audience experiences the heart of your institution: the people, stories, and everyday moments that bring your campus community to life. It’s not about flashy production or ad-level polish; it’s about connection, authenticity, and storytelling.

    Organic Social Media Best Practices for Higher Ed

    Keep these tips in mind as you work on your institution’s organic social media strategy:

    Keep It Casual (and Native)

    Users scroll quickly, and they know when something feels too polished or out of place. Today’s audiences crave authenticity, not perfection. In fact, 90% of consumers say authenticity is important when deciding which brands to support (Adweek), and 63% of people say they’d engage more with brands that share content that feels real and unfiltered (Visual Contenting).

    Embrace lo-fi, native-style content that blends naturally into their feeds. Phone-filmed videos, trending audio, and spontaneous moments often outperform professional shoots on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The ultimate goal is relatability.

    Show Real People

    Faces stop the scroll. Featuring students, faculty, and staff helps humanize your brand and creates content the algorithm favors. Showcase day-in-the-life clips, student takeovers, or behind-the-scenes glimpses to build trust and relatability.

    Be Trend-Aware (But True to You)

    Trend participation can boost visibility, but don’t jump on every viral moment. Choose trends that align with your school’s voice and mission, then add your institution’s own creative spin. That’s what makes content memorable.

    Don’t Be Overly Salesy

    Organic social media isn’t the place to push “Apply Now” or “Learn More” in every post. Instead, focus on cultivating community, telling authentic stories, and providing value. When your audience feels connected, conversions follow naturally through awareness and affinity.

    Respond to Comments

    Engagement is a two-way street. Replying to comments, answering questions, and even reacting with humor show that your brand listens and cares. It also signals to platform algorithms that your account fosters consistent, genuine interaction.

    Post Video Content Consistently

    Video drives higher engagement and reach across platforms. Buffer reports that Instagram Reels earn 1.36× more reach than carousels and 2.25× more reach than single-photo posts, and LinkedIn video views have grown 36% year over year. Posting video content regularly—whether short clips, student features, or event highlights—helps your institution connect more dynamically and reach audiences where they’re most engaged.

    Show Your Institution’s Personality

    Every college or university has a unique voice and culture, so let it shine. Whether it’s pride, humor, or heartwarming stories, your organic social media’s tone and storytelling style should reflect what makes your community distinct. A consistent voice builds familiarity and recognition.

    Listen to Your Audience

    Use your comments, DMs, mentions, forum-based platforms like Reddit, and organic social listening tools as insight. What are students asking about? What content types spark the most discussion? Social listening allows you to adjust your strategy and create content they want to see.

    Hone in on 3–5 Content Pillars

    Avoid the temptation to post anything and everything. Identify 3–5 key themes that represent your institution (e.g., student life, academics, athletics, alumni success, community impact) and stick to them. This keeps your feed consistent and recognizable.

    Take Note of Top-Performing Content

    Regularly analyze what’s working through platform audits. Look at engagement metrics and qualitative feedback to identify trends in format, tone, or topic. Use those insights to refine your future content strategy, without having to reinvent the wheel each time.

    Sharpen Your Organic Social Media

    Organic social media is your institution’s opportunity to connect, not just communicate. By showing up authentically, highlighting real people, and leaning into your school’s unique personality, you can transform your platforms into vibrant communities that reflect campus life and values.

    If your higher ed institution is ready to take the next step in its social media strategy—whether that means creating a strong organic social strategy, developing and posting content, performing a social listening analysis, or conducting a full social audit, Carnegie can help. Start a conversation with us today.

    Source link

  • Importance of Media Training Students in Politically Charged World

    Importance of Media Training Students in Politically Charged World

    With student-led campus protests on the rise and polarization intensifying on both sides of the political spectrum, the need to have students media ready is mounting. For example, in recent weeks students rallied across the U.S. because of the Trump administration’s assault on higher education; protests broke out at the University of California, Berkeley, during an event held by Turning Point USA; and students at the University of Florida protested the university’s deal with ICE. Since October 2023, U.S. colleges and universities have seen 3,700 protest days across 525 campuses, including more than 130 encampments. In fact, one in three college students have been involved in a protest. 

    As a PR professional, you can equip students on your campus with the skills and confidence to excel in interviews. Here are four reasons why you should invest the time and resources in media training your students.

    1. It makes your life easier. When a reporter contacts you and asks for a student to weigh in on the news of the day or your institution’s latest initiative, you will have a pool of students to pick from at the ready rather than reaching out to deans or faculty to find a student and vet them that day.

    While it will make your life easier in the long run, it does require you to put in the time up front. Meet students on their timelines. Most student group meetings are outside of class time, so it might mean you are attending a student government association meeting at 8 p.m. or doing a Zoom training with the College Democrats or Republicans on your lunch break.

    1. It helps students and the community navigate crisis situations. With protests becoming regular occurrences on our campuses and in our communities, media training students will help them remain calm under pressure. When a reporter is looking for a comment, students won’t just say the first thing that pops into their mind. They will know how to get their key messages across to the audiences they are trying to reach.

    It’s not just national and local media students need to respond to; student reporters are often the first to approach peers for quotes. All student newspapers are online, can be accessed by anyone and are an extension of your institution and its values. Engaging with student media isn’t just a learning opportunity—it shows how students will represent themselves, which in turn has a direct impact on the reputation of your institution.

    Many students don’t know they can choose to not talk to the media or say no to interview requests. We’ve all seen the videos of reporters knocking on students’ doors and the students saying something unfavorable rather than just not opening the door in the first place, or of students having a microphone put in their face as they are walking to class to weigh in on a subject they don’t know about instead of saying, “I don’t know.” Media training can help students realize they have the option to respectfully decline interviews and interactions, which can help alleviate the pressure they might feel to respond in the moment.

    1. Students build career-ready competencies. Whether it’s an internship or job interview, being able to succinctly articulate their points will help students for the rest of their lives. From public speaking to leadership roles to internships, media training gives students skills for their future.

    We want our students to be able to weigh in on important issues, and media outlets are always looking for a student perspective. For example, my team was recently on campus for faculty and staff media and op-ed training when a professor asked if his students could sit in. Afterward, one student drafted an op-ed that she successfully placed. I’ve also provided op-ed writing training to seminar classes in which students learn the nuts and bolts of writing an op-ed and how to get published as an undergrad.

    1. Name, image and likeness (NIL) has changed the game for student athletes. It takes students out of the arena and into the public eye where their reputation will be on the line. If you are at a larger school, some of your student athletes may have their own publicist, but if you are not at school where the NIL money is flowing, media training helps prepare student athletes for local commercials, being the face of the pizza shop down the street or even a postgame interview.

    When a scandal occurs—a coach is fired, or student athletes are gambling or being hazed—you want students to know they can come to you for advice and guidance when reporters descend on campus.

    Students are the most prominent ambassadors of your institution. Media training isn’t about making them a professional correspondent; it’s about making them feel prepared when they are in the spotlight. Whether they are engaging in a protest, talking with a peer reporter at the school newspaper or navigating a postgame interview, media training can serve them in the moment and long term. It’s worth your time to engage with your best spokespeople.

    Cristal Steuer is associate vice president at TVP Communications, a national public relations and crisis communications agency solely focused on higher education.

    Source link

  • Duke Asked Some Faculty to Avoid Talking to Media

    Duke Asked Some Faculty to Avoid Talking to Media

    Duke is facing a $108 million federal funding freeze and multiple federal investigations. 

    Duke University file photo

    As Duke University navigates a $108 million federal research funding freeze and multiple investigations by the Trump administration, administrators want faculty to avoid talking to the media about institutional operations, The Chronicle, Duke’s student newspaper reported Monday.

    According to an August email obtained by The Chronicle, Jenny Edmonds, associate dean of communications and marketing at Duke’s Sanford School of Public Policy, encouraged faculty to “continue to engage with the media to disseminate [their] research as [they] have always done,” while also cautioning that “media attention to institutions of higher education and discussions about institutional responses to policy changes have become more prominent than ever.”

    “In this moment in particular, questions about Duke and current events are being answered by Frank Tramble and his team,” Edmonds wrote. “If you are contacted by the media about overarching issues confronting the University, please forward the requests to [Sanford’s Senior Public Relations Manager Matt LoJacono] and me.”

    Although it wasn’t a universitywide directive, The Chronicle obtained emails that show some other departments also gave their faculty similar instructions to route media requests through the university’s central communications channels.

    At an Academic Council meeting in October, Duke’s president, Vincent Price, and council chair, Mark Anthony Neal, commended faculty members for not speaking to a New York Times reporter; the reporter had visited the campus while working on a story about the Trump administration targeting Duke’s diversity, equity and inclusion program.

    “It was pretty amazing that [the reporter] actually got no commentary from Duke officials and Duke faculty,” Neal continued. “Even if it wasn’t overtly communicated to the community, the community understood the stakes of that mode of inquiry.”

    At that meeting Price also called Trump’s higher education compact—which would allegedly give universities preferential funding in exchange for making sweeping institutional policy changes— “highly problematic,” according to The Chronicle. Despite public pressure, Duke hasn’t officially rejected the terms of the compact.

    Source link

  • How one young woman broke free of a media addiction

    How one young woman broke free of a media addiction

    I knew every word to the saddest songs on my playlist. Not because I loved music, but because depression had become my language. I was 14, lying in my room with my family just beyond the door, close enough to hear their voices, far enough that they might as well have been in another country.

    I had been expelled from school months earlier. “Disciplinary issues,” they called it. My family’s disappointment sat heavy in our home, unspoken but everywhere. We lived together, ate together, but there was no closeness, no one I could talk to.

    I tried to find help. I downloaded mental health apps, desperate for someone, anyone, to talk to. Every single one wanted money: subscriptions, fees, payments I couldn’t afford. I stared at those payment screens feeling like I was drowning, watching help float just out of reach.

    That’s when the screen became my only escape. It started two years earlier, in Primary 6, when house workers casually showed me explicit images on their phones. I was just a child; curious, confused, not understanding what I was seeing. Then it continued at school with friends, and something awakened in me that I didn’t know how to name or control.

    Now, alone and depressed, pornography became my refuge. Not because it made me happy, but because for a few minutes, it made me feel something other than suffocating sadness. It was free. It was always available. And unlike everyone in my life, it didn’t judge me.

    A cycle begins

    I didn’t wake up one morning and decide to be addicted. At first, it felt harmless, a way to escape. I told myself, It’s just this once. I’m in control. But addiction is a liar. Soon, it wasn’t me making the choices, the choices were making me.

    I became a professional actor: smiling, joking, saying “I’m fine.” Inside, I was drowning. Mornings brought disgust and broken promises. “This is the last time,” I would whisper. By evening, I was back in the same cycle.

    Being a Christian made it worse. How could I worship on Sunday and fall back into the same pit during the week? I carried my Bible with trembling hands, wondering: Does God still want me? Is He tired of forgiving me?

    What made everything harder was the silence; not just mine, but from my entire community.

    In many African homes, conversations about struggles don’t happen. Children are raised to “be strong,” “obey,” and “not bring shame.” So, when addiction creeps in, we already know: I can’t tell my parents because we know the response is often punishment and disappointment rather than compassion and feeling secure.

    The things we don’t discuss

    My family was no different. We shared meals, went to church together. But I couldn’t tell them about the depression that made me want to die, or the addiction consuming me. Not because they were cruel, but because we’d never learned how to talk about things that hurt.

    In many communities, struggles like pornography are labeled as spiritual weakness rather than human pain. Youth are told to “pray harder” while root wounds remain untouched. Girls especially face pressure to be “good daughters” because any confession can bring family shame.

    After my expulsion, I carried not just my own shame, but my family’s disappointment, the fear of being labeled a failure, the burden of disgrace.

    Addiction thrives in that silence. It feeds on fear; fear of punishment, of shame, of losing respect. So, we hide behind grades, church attendance, fake smiles. Inside, we are prisoners.

    For Christians struggling with addiction, the battle isn’t linear. One day you pray and feel close to God; the next, guilt crashes down. You confess, repent, hope but relapse comes again. I can’t get free. I’m weak. I keep failing.

    Faith meets struggle.

    Each fall reinforces the lie that you’re beyond redemption. You watch others grow in faith and compare your hidden failures to their visible victories. The church can make this harder. Fear of gossip or rejection stops you from seeking support. If they knew, would they still respect me?

    I struggled with this constantly. Sundays brought worship and hope. By Tuesday, I’d be back in the cycle, convinced I’d disappointed God one too many times. Everyone seemed to have faith figured out while I failed again and again.

    It’s strange having a full contact list but feeling completely alone. People assume you’re fine. “You’re always smiling,” they say. That image becomes a trap. If you break the mask, they might judge.

    The worst I’ve discovered is that the more people around you, the lonelier you feel. Addiction thrives in isolation. Your mind becomes a battlefield of self-condemnation and guilt. You wonder if anyone could love you as you are not as the image you show.

    When you reach out, friends often laugh it off or assume you’re exaggerating. Each failed attempt reinforces that isolation is safer than vulnerability. Trust issues build. You question whether anyone can handle your truth.

    Small steps forward 

    I haven’t stopped struggling. But I’ve discovered steps that help me keep moving forward. God’s presence never left me, even when I couldn’t feel it. Even in the darkest moments, there was a whisper: You are not finished. I’m still here.

    I’ve learned to pray honestly. One night I prayed: “God, I’m tired. I failed again.” That messy prayer brought relief. God doesn’t need eloquence, He wants honesty.

    Scripture became my anchor: “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). These words remind me that weakness doesn’t disqualify me.

    I’ve sought godly friendship. Sharing my struggle with a mentor brought prayer, guidance, and relief I hadn’t felt in years. Accountability isn’t about judgment; it’s about having allies who speak truth when you’re too weary.

    I celebrate small wins: resisting harmful content one morning, admitting a relapse to a friend, choosing honesty over shame. These moments prove God is working, even if change feels slow.

    Most importantly, I keep returning to God. After rough weeks, I kneel and whisper, “I’m here again, God,” and find quiet peace. The journey isn’t linear, but persistent return is how healing begins.

    Lessons and hope 

    Silence makes struggle worse; speaking lifts the burden. Faith doesn’t remove struggle, but gives hope and a path forward. Vulnerability is strength. Grace works in the mess. Small wins matter.

    If you feel trapped by addiction, shame or loneliness: you are not alone, and your story isn’t finished. God sees every hidden struggle, every tear, every relapse, every moment you’ve smiled while breaking inside. His love is stronger than any fear or guilt you carry.

    Change may be slow. You may stumble again. But every honest step toward God, every whispered prayer, every confession is victory. The times you felt weakest may be when God was shaping your heart for strength.

    Do not be discouraged by setbacks. Healing is a process. God’s timing is perfect, his grace persistent. You are not defined by your struggles; you’re defined by the God who pursues you relentlessly and turns brokenness into testimony.

    To my fellow young Africans carrying battles in silence: I see you. Your pain is real. The silence in your home is real. But so is God’s grace, the possibility of healing, and the chance that your story could be the hope someone else needs.

    I am still on this journey. There are days when old habits call, when depression threatens, when I feel eight years of struggle. But I’m learning that every day I turn back to God, I choose life over death, hope over despair, truth over silence.

    Remember: hope is not passive. It’s a daily choice to trust that God sees you, values you and has a purpose for you. Your story is not over. It is still being written, and your struggles are chapters, not the conclusion. Break the silence. Reach out. Trust that there is grace enough for every fall, love enough for every shame and hope enough for every tomorrow.

    You are not alone.

    Questions to consider:

    1. Why might someone turn to media, like pornography, as a way to escape depression or loneliness?

    2. Why do you think media addiction is so difficult to break from?

    3. If you knew of someone with an addiction, how might you help them free themselves from it?

    Source link

  • George Mason demands pro-Palestinian student group remove video from social media, but public universities can’t do that

    George Mason demands pro-Palestinian student group remove video from social media, but public universities can’t do that

    Late last month, the student chapter of Students for Justice in Palestine at George Mason University posted a video on a social media account that criticized U.S. foreign policy and Israel. The video (now removed), which apparently stylistically mimicked a Hamas video, included phrases such as “genocidal Zionist State,” “the belly of the beast,” and “from the river to the sea.” It also specifically addressed conditions in Gaza and GMU’s alleged oppression of pro-Palestinian protestors. 

    Regardless of one’s views on Israel and Gaza, all of this is protected speech. But rather than protecting student political discourse, GMU demanded the SJP chapter take down the video explicitly because its language ran afoul of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance’s vague definition of antisemitism, which has been incorporated into GMU’s anti-discrimination policy. The school warned that failure to comply could result in disciplinary action.  

    Student groups at public universities have the First Amendment right to post videos expressing their views on international conflicts, even if some members of the campus community are offended by the viewpoints expressed. We’ve seen no evidence the video constituted incitement, true threats, intimidation, or student-on-student harassment — narrow categories of speech unprotected by the First Amendment.

    When campus administrators invoke the IHRA definition and its examples to investigate, discipline, or silence political expression, the distinction between conduct and speech becomes meaningless.

    This is not the first — nor will it be the last — instance of universities relying on vague, overbroad anti-harassment definitions to censor speech some members of the campus community find offensive. In fact, overbroad anti-harassment policies remain the most common form of speech codes on college campuses. But it does point to the clear and growing threat the use of the IHRA definition poses to campus discourse about the Israel-Palestine conflict. It’s a danger about which FIRE has warned of since 2016, a danger we’ve seen in application, and one that the IHRA definition’s supporters routinely brush aside. As more and more states adopt IHRA for the purpose of enforcing anti-discrimination law, we’re likely to see increasingly more instances of campus censorship in the future.

    IHRA defines antisemitism as:

    a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of antisemitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.

    The document also provides a list of examples of antisemitism that include, among others:

    • Applying double standards by requiring of [Israel] a behavior not expected or demanded of any other democratic nation.
    • Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis.

    Language that does this (and that does not also fall into a specific category of unprotected speech) may offend some or many people. It nevertheless constitutes core political speech. Supporters of the use of the IHRA definition on campus insist that the definition does not restrict free speech, but rather helps identify antisemitic intent or motive when determining whether a student has created a hostile environment in violation of anti-discrimination laws. But this attempted distinction collapses in practice. 

    When “intent” is inferred from political expression — as it has at GMU and other campuses across the country — speech itself becomes evidence of a violation. Under this framework, students and faculty learn that certain viewpoints about Israel are per se suspect, and both institutional censorship and self-censorship follow. Despite its defenders’ claims, when campus administrators invoke the IHRA definition and its examples to investigate, discipline, or silence political expression, the distinction between conduct and speech becomes meaningless.

    Analysis: Harvard’s settlement adopting IHRA anti-Semitism definition a prescription to chill campus speech

    Harvard agreed to settle two lawsuits brought against it by Jewish students that alleged the university ignored “severe and pervasive antisemitism on campus.”


    Read More

    The problem is compounded by the Trump administration’s Title VI enforcement. Its unlawful defund-first, negotiate-second approach places universities’ federal funding — sometimes hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars — at the mercy of the administration’s Joint Antisemitism Task Force. That threat alone is enough to force campus administrators to make a choice: censor student speech critical of Israel, or risk losing access to federal funding. All too often, as we have seen repeatedly, institutions choose access to money over standing up for student rights.

    Instead of relying on IHRA’s vague definition for anti-discrimination purposes, FIRE has long supported efforts to constitutionally and effectively address antisemitic discrimination on college campuses by passing legislation to: 

    • Prohibit harassment based on religion.
    • Confirm that Title VI prohibits discrimination based on ethnic stereotypes.
    • Codify the Supreme Court’s definition of discriminatory harassment. 

    These options would better address antisemitic harassment and would do so without suppressing free speech.

    Source link

  • Shields Media Commons opens to expand multimedia access at University Park

    Shields Media Commons opens to expand multimedia access at University Park

    To meet the growing demand for multimedia services at the Pattee Library Media Commons, a new location has officially opened in Shields Building on Penn State’s University Park campus.

    The Penn State community is invited to an open house from 1 to 4 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 10, at the Shields Media Commons, 22 Shields Building.  Attendees may stop by anytime during the event to explore the new space and get hands-on with the technology. Interested participants can add the open house to their calendars from the TLT event page.

    Source link