Morgan State U. restricts student journalists, faculty from direct press access

UPDATED

A journalism organization and free speech group called out Morgan State University this month in an advocacy letter for restricting the ability of student journalists to gather news directly.

A legal expert told The College Fix the new policy is a “blatantly” illegal “gag order.”

The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression and Society of Professional Journalists initially became aware of the situation through an article by MSU’s student newspaper, The Morgan State Spokesman.

In 2024, Morgan State University’s Office of Public Relations and Strategic Communications emailed students, faculty, and staff, directing that filming requests “should be coordinated” through the office.

A revised policy, sent only to faculty and staff on Nov. 13, 2025, strengthened the language, requiring that filming requests “be coordinated and approved” through OPRSC.

Additionally, all media inquiries involving the university, including those received by The Spokesman, MSU’s network BEAR TV, and the school’s radio station WEAA, “must be” filtered through OPRSC for “proper review and response.”

The College Fix reached out to the OPRSC at Morgan State twice for more information on the policy, but did not receive a response. 

Marie McMullan, FIRE’s student press counsel for campus advocacy, told The College Fix that the policy stops expression protected by the First Amendment before it can be expressed. In this case, the “expression” is asking faculty and staff questions.

“That’s textbook prior restraint,” she said.

To McMullan, the new policy ultimately slows the newsgathering process at Morgan State because reporting now requires an additional middleman.

“It is a part of source building and backgrounding, and interviewing and reporting,” McMullan told The Fix. “Basic functions of the press are at risk of being hampered because of this policy.” 

Mike Hiestand, senior legal counsel at the Student Press Law Center, agrees. He told The Fix that journalists need to be able to talk to their sources freely and directly.

Hiestand said a student journalist’s job is to provide news that the campus community needs to hear, so it’s problematic if that community is “not allowed to speak.”

He also said that this “gatekeeper sort of system” raises questions regarding the school’s motivations.

Hiestand thinks Morgan State might make a defense claim about public safety and campus access, but suspects it may ultimately appear aimed at limiting negative attention.

As an example, Hiestand pointed to a scenario where a faculty member is connected to a new university development. He said journalists must be free to contact that individual directly, without having to route requests through the school’s public relations office.

“The faculty absolutely have the right to speak out,” he told The Fix.

Regarding the school policy’s modified restrictions on filming by newsrooms, FIRE and SPJ’s main concern is that it will complicate filming on campus in an “expeditious manner,” specifically in cases of breaking news.

Rules that restrict filming and other expressive activity are “concerning,” McMullan said, because free expression should be most protected at locations like public forums on college campuses.

“From a journalism standard, breaking news that occurs nearly spontaneously won’t wait for administrative approval,” she said.

Hiestand said “it’s really nuts” that the school thinks it has the right to enact this policy on a public space since MSU is a public university.

“When there’s breaking news or something, you don’t have time to go to somebody who may or may not be near their desk and able to talk with you,” he said. 

Hiestand doesn’t think MSU’s new media policy is going to set a precedent at other public universities because of how unlawful it is.

“This is just one school doing some weird stuff,” he said. “I don’t think that just because this one school is doing it, it’s going to necessarily encourage other schools to take that step.”

However, FIRE is concerned that student reporting as a whole will be negatively impacted by these policies if left unchanged. The group plans on evaluating next steps if the university does not take action.

On the other hand, Morgan State political science Professor Wilmer Leon does not believe the policy violates the First Amendment.

He told The Spokesman that public institutions can enact certain restrictions on speech, especially when statements under a university’s name are at hand.

He also said that in today’s political climate, with “an incredibly reactionary administration that is attacking and sanctioning institutions that articulate a narrative different from the mainstream,” it makes sense for Morgan State to insist that anything said under the university’s name adheres to the administration’s established rules.

Further, OPRSC Director Larry Jones told The Spokesman that the policy’s modified treatment of student media mirrors that of external media outlets.

“There’s no special privilege. Just because you’re a student reporter doesn’t mean you bypass the protocol,” he said, adding that the change in wording was intended to clarify the original version of the policy, not change the protocol.

“All media requests must come through the Office of Public Relations. That’s always been the policy, whether the email says ‘should’ or ‘must,’” he said.

Editor’s note: The article has been updated to correct Professor Wilmer Leon’s name.