Since President Donald Trump took office in January, The Huntington News has seen an increased number of sources ask for anonymity, refuse to speak to reporters out of fear and even request to unpublish pieces that expressed positions critical of the United States government.
Given that The Huntington News is a campus newspaper at a university with the second-highest population of international students in the nation, many of our sources, writers and editors hail from other countries. These integral members of our community are now being targeted by the Trump administration, which is revoking thousands of student visas and detaining students who have expressed pro-Palestine views.
As we continue to thoroughly and responsibly cover the Trump administration’s impacts on our university and city, we want to ensure that the voices of those affected aren’t missing from our coverage. We strive to be a platform that fosters productive dialogue and helps our community members understand each other and the world around them.
Because we believe you — as our readers — have a right to know how we operate, I want to give a few updates on our anonymity policy. These changes were made considering guidance issued by the Student Press Law Center, which advised campus newspapers in April to alter takedown and anonymity policies in light of the Trump administration’s actions.
During this uncertain time, and because the threat is tangible and real, The News will offer expanded anonymity to international students quoted in news articles speaking out against the federal government. This will also be extended to those with family members who are not U.S. citizens and fear for their safety and security.
It is a critical time in journalism, and trust has never been more important. A large part of maintaining that trust is having our work be as transparent as possible; this includes naming sources. While we have expanded anonymity for certain students during this time, The News internally verifies sources’ identities. The editor-in-chief and the reporter always know the names of sources granted anonymity; this is a standard practice in newsrooms, and that information will not be shared anywhere else.
We are also considering, on a case-by-case basis, article takedown requests made by international students or people with family members who are not U.S. citizens. Most of the articles students have asked us to remove, which as of April 23 stands at six, are opinion pieces critical of Trump. For context, before March, The News only had granted one takedown request since we began tracking them in April 2023 — that article was from 2003.
For now, we will continue to maintain our usual policies for granting anonymity to those who are not international students speaking critically of the federal government. This entails assessing, on a case-by-case basis, whether there is a real and imminent threat to a source’s physical or material safety if they were to be identified or if there are privacy concerns, such as in the case of sexual assault survivors or children.
We will also continue requiring authors of opinion pieces and letters to the editor to be named, as we believe readers deserve to know who is writing and that they have a stake in the issue.
As always, you can find our most up-to-date policies on our About page or reach out to me at editor@huntnewsnu.com.
Thank you for your continued readership.
Sincerely,
Emily Spatz
Editor-in-Chief
