Overview
- IU Media School Dean Dave Tolchinsky announced a task force to produce recommendations on the Indiana Daily Student’s editorial autonomy and financial model, with membership and timeline to be named later.
- The move follows IU’s dismissal of Director of Student Media Jim Rodenbush after he refused an order to keep news out of the Oct. 16 homecoming print edition.
- After Rodenbush’s firing, the Indiana Daily Student said the university fully cut print, including special editions, while continuing online publishing.
- Purdue’s independent student newspaper, The Exponent, distributed 3,000 solidarity copies on IU’s Bloomington campus featuring op-eds, reporting, and QR codes linking to donation pages for both newsrooms.
- IU journalism faculty and press‑freedom groups criticized the print halt as a breach of editorial independence, and Exponent publisher Kyle Charters said IDS declined an offer to print its canceled edition due to concerns about staff repercussions.