Fired newspaper director sues Indiana U. over alleged censorship

Former Indiana University student media director Jim Rodenbush has filed a lawsuit against the school, alleging he was fired for refusing to censor content in the Indiana Daily Student newspaper.

Rodenbush alleges that his termination violates his First Amendment rights. However, IU says it has not interfered with free expression. 

John Little, an attorney representing Jim Rodenbush, told The College Fix that the university is “engaging in content based speech restrictions, which can’t happen.”

“You’ll notice Indiana University realizes they’ve done that and they’ve already restored the paper,” he said. 

This week, IU reversed its decision to end print publication of its student newspaper, The Fix reported. But Rodenbush’s termination still stands.

Little said his team has filed a First Amendment claim on Rodenbush’s behalf, adding that there is clear evidence IU objected to the content of the Oct. 13 issue, leading to his termination.

The attorney also told The Fix that “anybody who is paying attention to freedom of the press should be very concerned. We have to win. The government cannot have any kind of freedom of speech restrictions and call itself a republic.” 

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, an organization that advocates for the free speech rights of students, faculty, and staff on college campuses, voiced similar concerns about censorship at IU.

FIRE Program Officer Dominic Coletti told The Fix “Indiana University has been on a long campaign to stop the Indiana Daily Student from printing negative coverage of the university.”

“They’ve tried to alter how the paper distributes content. They’ve tried to alter what content the paper can include in its print edition,” Coletti said.  

“The First Amendment protects … student journalists from retaliation, and that retaliation includes losing their advisor,” he said.

Coletti also said the university’s actions were driven by the newspaper’s content, not by financial concerns, as IU claims. 

“Rodenbush himself has … mentioned at least a few times that the print product was actually profitable,” he said. 

He noted that in the online homecoming edition published while printing was suspended, the newspaper highlighted how much revenue the print edition generated. 

“So even taking the university at its word that it wants to save money and protect the budget, it’s not doing that by cutting the print product, which suggests that their real motive is controlling the distribution of harmful content, including IU’s own ranking and FIRE’s free speech rankings,” Coletti said.

Further, “Rodenbush was, by all accounts, a good advisor. Students appreciated him, and he provided valuable service to them. He gave them guidance,” he said.

“He helped them manage the relationship at the university. Those are all things that the students are now without because the university fired him. That kind of retaliation is a problem, and that kind of retaliation cannot pass First Amendment scrutiny,” Coletti said. 

He also told The Fix that “FIRE has asked for Rodenbush to be offered his job back.”

Additionally, they have requested assurances that IU will refrain from interfering with protected expression.

“Right now we have platitudes. It would be great to see policy enshrining the lip service the university is currently giving to editorial independence,” Coletti said. 

Similarly, Student Press Law Center Senior Legal Counsel Mike Hiestand, criticized IU’s decision to fire Rodenbush in an interview with The Fix. 

“If you can’t speak freely and openly on an American college campus, where can you speak freely? It’s where new ideas are test-driven and necessary changes are born,” he said.

Speaking about the broader national trend, Hiestand said that if current patterns continue— with too many colleges, law firms, and courts hesitating to uphold their commitments to free speech and democratic values— the outlook could appear bleak. 

However, he expressed optimism that the direction will shift.

“The vast majority don’t want those principles eroded. Certainly not the young people I work with, who have the most at stake simply because they’ll have to live with it the longest. I’ve seen and felt signs that the trajectory is changing,” Hiestand said. 

In a statement provided to The Fix by IU Media Relations, Chancellor David Reingold said the school “is firmly committed to the free expression and editorial independence of student media.” 

“The university has not and will not interfere with their editorial judgement,” he said. 

The Fix also reached out to the IDS for comments on the situation, but did not receive a response.

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