Freedom to report

James Madison University’s leveling of charges against two student journalists raises troubling concerns over press freedom.
The editor in chief of the campus newspaper and a reporter were inside a dorm interviewing other students about a “Peeping Tom” incident.
A resident adviser and a dorm director told them to leave. Presumably, they didn’t immediately do so.
A JMU spokesman said they could have conducted interviews outside. Access to the dorm is restricted for safety.
As of this writing, some details are lacking. Did the students simply protest their treatment (and reasonably so, under the circumstances)? Or were they truly “disorderly”?
But there are usually better ways to handle incidents like this than to charge journalists with crimes.
We are concerned because of an increasing trend toward limiting press access — on campuses, at political events and in other situations.
And we’re pretty sure that at James Madison’s university, the Father of the Constitution would come down on the side of freedom.

The Daily Progress