A Northwestern University student newspaper has apologized for sending a reporter to cover a talk by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions after protesters claimed it was 'traumatizing, invasive and harmful' to them.
The lengthy apology by The Daily Northwestern on Sunday sparked a huge backlash online from a number of high profile journalists who questioned the move, calling it 'deeply embarrassing' and 'mind-boggling'.
Signed by eight members of the editorial team the letter said: 'The Daily sent a reporter to cover that talk and another to cover the students protesting his invitation to campus, along with a photographer.
'We recognize that we contributed to the harm students experienced, and we wanted to apologize for and address the mistakes that we made that night.'
They also said sorry for using the college directory to interview students, adding: 'One area of our reporting that harmed many students was our photo coverage of the event. Some protesters found photos posted to reporters’ Twitter accounts retraumatizing and invasive.
'Some students also voiced concern about the methods that Daily staffers used to reach out to them. Some of our staff members who were covering the event used Northwestern’s directory to obtain phone numbers for students beforehand and texted them to ask if they’d be willing to be interviewed.
'We recognize being contacted like this is an invasion of privacy, and we’ve spoken with those reporters — along with our entire staff — about the correct way to reach out to students for stories.'
The nine paragraph apology came after protesters attended an event last Tuesday were Sessions spoke, which was free and open to the public.
Pro-immigration activists at Harvard last month attacked student journalists for making a routine inquiry requesting comment from Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
In a petition signed by more than 670 people, the activists claimed that the Harvard Crimson 'blatantly endangers undocumented students' by giving ICE the opportunity to respond to criticism.
In a strongly worded statement, Crimson editors Kristine E. Guillaume and Angela N. Fu stood by their decision, writing: 'every party named in a story has a right to comment or contest criticism leveled against them.'
But The Daily Northwestern took the opposite approach and their move has been widely condemned online.