The Shield is the first source for information on USI’s campus.
It is a professional media organization that operates the way any other media organization does. Its main goal is to inform the campus community as quickly and as accurately as possible.
The only difference is that the staff is made up of students, and for some reason, that too often seems to translate to sources as naivety.
The Shield received a tip Wednesday that a woman had a gun in a holster on campus. Bobby Shipman, The Shield’s news editor, rushed to the scene of the alleged incident, while Armon Siadat, the opinion editor, stayed behind to make calls and verify the accuracy of the tip.
Siadat called the Office of Public Safety and informed the person who answered the phone that The Shield had received a tip about the incident and assured the person that he would not release any information just yet, and he was simply seeking verification.
“I’m not sure where you got that information from, but it’s completely incorrect,” the person who answered the phone said.
Siadat told the individual the tip was based on information from a police scanner.
“There is nothing going on,” the person said.
As the person on the phone informed Siadat that it “would be irresponsible” for The Shield to release the unverified information, Siadat said he heard radio chatter on the other end of the line about an incident in the education building.
The tipster then told Siadat that, according to scanner activity, the incident was occurring on the third floor of the Science Center, which is connected to the Education Center, so he called Public Safety again.
“The police scanner is saying that on the third floor of the old science building…” he was cut off and transferred to an officer at the Vanderburgh County Sheriff’s Office, who said the incident was under investigation and that a statement would be released later that afternoon.
The phone call ended quickly, and no statement was ever issued. In fact, Shipman, who witnessed the altercation, was told by a representative from the sheriff’s office that no one could talk about the incident until a report was written, which the representative said would take a few days.
The Shield is made up of students who have trained in “real” newsrooms, such as the Evansville Courier & Press. So we are not ignorant. An officer writes a report immediately following an incident. So why should any journalist have to wait a “few days” to get their hands on it?
Nonsense.
The Shield is still fighting Public Safety and the sheriff’s office, which both keep referring reporters to one another, for information regarding the incident.
Last week’s incident was not the only one a staffer at The Shield experienced in the past month.
Shipman has worked alongside Executive Consultant for Noel-Levitz Claire Berardini to gather important information for the retention series.
During a Faculty Senate meeting Feb. 7, which The Shield live-tweeted, Berardini presented information regarding UNIV 101.
She called the course a “shit show.”
Faculty Senate Vice Chair Rex Strange leaned over to Shipman and said, “Make sure you tweet that.”
Shipman paused, then continued to tweet. But the comment attracted Berardini’s attention.
She urged Shipman to refrain from pressing send. As he continued to type, he said her tone darkened and she again urged him to not send the tweet.
USI Media Relations Specialist Wendy Bredhold jumped in.
“You can’t ask that of him,” she said.
Berardini added, “I could lose my job,” followed by a feral stare down, Shipman said.
He chose to avert his eyes to his lap and keep silent.
Bredhold spoke up again.
“If you don’t see it on Twitter, you’ll read it in next week’s issue of The Shield,” she said.
The meeting continued.
As Berardini concluded her presentation, she spoke about her final three visits to USI this spring and added that that visit may have been her last since, “she might not have a job anymore.”
She addressed Shipman again, this time asking him if the reason he was looking down and shaking his head was out of guilt – it was actually out of embarrassment, he later told the rest of The Shield’s editorial board.
Provost Ron Rochon asked her to stop and she eventually departed.
Following the provost’s update, Rochon asked Shipman to step into the hall with him, where he apologized for Berardini’s behavior.
A journalist should never be made a part of any meeting, especially one open to the public. Shipman had every right to tweet or repeat anything that came up. But he chose to refrain from making the situation worse and the send button remained untouched.
The editorial board appreciates those who are willing to put their leg out for its staffers, the way Bredhold and Rochon did during that meeting.
Yes, The Shield is made up of students, and just like everyone else, they will make mistakes. And, just like every other media organization, The Shield is going to own up to those mistakes. But that doesn’t mean the journalists on staff should be treated any differently.
Would Public Safety have lied to the Courier & Press?
Would a sherriff have told a “professional” media organization it would have to wait a few days for a simple report?
Would Berardini have asked a “real” journalist to refrain from tweeting something she said during a public meeting?
The editors and the reporters at The Shield take their jobs very seriously, and the board urges its sources and its readers to take the staff just as seriously.