'Challenging': UCLA student editor on protest coverage
STORY: The pro-Palestinian rallies have sparked intense campus debate over where school officials should draw the line between freedom of expression and hate speech. Some pro-Israel counter-demonstrators have accused the other side of engaging in antisemitism.
Friedman, Editor in Chief of the Daily Bruin, says her university has taken a "hands off" approach, minimizing arrests and confrontation with police, unlike schools in Texas or New York.
She described the challenges of reporting on the protests while juggling classes and life: "It's tough to balance all of that, but we really want to make sure the community is staying as up to date on what's happening as possible and that we can provide any information that we think is helpful."
Friedman also said the Daily Bruin team works hard to try and keep personal biases out of their coverage, in part by having a clear separation between news content and opinion pieces.
At the University of California, Los Angeles, where opposing sides had clashed over the weekend, pro-Israeli activists set up a large screen and loudspeakers to play a tape loop of the Oct. 7 cross-border attack on Israel by Hamas militants. The video appears aimed at countering pro-Hamas chants that seeped into campus protests in support of Palestinian civilians besieged in Gaza.
UCLA also stepped up security around a pro-Palestinian encampment, consisting of more than 50 tents surrounded by metal fencing near the main administration building on campus.
