October 24, 2025
Why Did Indiana University Axe Its Award-Winning Print Newspaper?
By Nic Wong
If the administration can censor the Indiana Daily Student—one of the most acclaimed student publications in the nation—then student journalism everywhere is at risk.
On street corners across Bloomington, Indiana, newspaper boxes sit empty. Nearly two weeks ago, on October 14, Indiana University cut the award-winning print version of the Indiana Daily Student—just hours after firing the paper’s adviser—ending 158 years of print journalism two days before the next edition was set to publish.
These decisions came after weeks of discussions with IDS adviser and student media director Jim Rodenbush, during which Media School administrators told him that they expected the IDS’s printed newspapers to refrain from reporting any news.
The IDS editors in chief called it censorship. The Student Press Law Center and the Foundation for Institutional Rights and Expression have agreed. Mike Hiestand, senior legal counsel at the Student Press Law Center, told ABC News it was a “bizarre” decision from the university: “This is coming out of a place that absolutely should know better,” Hiestand said.
