A concerning new trend has emerged on the Cuesta College campus: Cuestonian reporters are being directed to the Cuesta Marketing and Communications Department when they request interviews with campus staff.

In the last month, seven Cuestonian reporters have been told by different Cuesta staff members that they must now go through the marketing department to schedule interviews and that their interview questions must be screened in advance.

To say this has been disruptive to the newspaper’s functioning is an understatement. This new practice slows our newsgathering process because reporting now requires a middleman. 

Despite the massive productivity disruption caused by delays in correspondence, the greater concern is the messaging sent to Cuesta student journalists by our own campus. A campus that proudly boasts about its “dedication to student success” and “workforce development” is now roadblocking the same students it says that it works to uplift. 

We came to Cuesta to learn a craft: journalism. How are we expected to learn if we don’t have the access we need on campus to practice that craft? 

As student journalists, we have unique educational requirements, as journalism cannot be learned solely in a classroom. We must practice in public, and the vulnerability of that experience makes it easy for self-doubt to creep in.

At a community college, this process can feel even more daunting, as many student reporters have not taken a prior journalism class and are learning from ground zero as their work is being published every week for the world to see, mistakes and all.

This is where the importance of the relationship between a student newspaper and its campus comes into play. The goal is for this relationship to be mutual: we work to uplift the voices and stories on our campus, and in turn, the campus offers us a place to practice our interviewing and reporting and build confidence as we progress in our studies and professional careers. 

It is a sacred relationship for any student newspaper, and one that The Cuestonian works hard to maintain.

Even when we write stories that may be deemed unfavorable to the campus by some, we do so with the intention of informing, educating and uplifting those at Cuesta. This is why a practice that works to slow and inhibit the spread of news and resources is not just harmful to us as student journalists, but to the entire Cuesta College community. 

How can we uplift the voices of Cuesta, if they are unable to speak with us? 

The Cuestonian is not alone in dealing with a restrictive practice on its own campus.

Student newspapers across the United States are facing rising censorship, declining funding and increased administrative control over campus media. Faculty advisers have been fired for refusing to enforce administrative mandates and students are losing their positions on newspapers for writing “unfavorable” stories about their campuses. 

So the question is: has Cuesta College joined the list of schools actively working to censor their student newspaper? 

The answer is still being determined, but what is clear is that Cuestonian reporters feel silenced and shut out by the same school that has promised to help us succeed.