# The irony of the Mizzou Communications/Journalism Professor actions at protests. **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 11, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310 "2015-11-11T18:15:12Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/1 "2015-11-11T18:15:12Z")
She seems like the least likely candidate to trample on First Amendment rights. I guess she was absent the days her own professors covered this. :rolleyes: She has no business teaching in either Dept, imho if this is how she views the role of mass media. Glad to hear that she’s no longer in the journalism Dept. > **[Mizzou professor who called for ‘some muscle’ to remove photographer covering...](https://www.yahoo.com/news/mizzou-professor-some-muscle-protests-resigns-143632236.html)** > > Melissa Click, an assistant professor in the communications department at Missouri's school of journalism, was among the activists who had formed a perimeter around the tent village at the center of the demonstration to block the media from accessing... > [@](#): > > Melissa Click, an assistant professor in the communications department, was among the activists who had formed a perimeter around the tent village at the center of the demonstration to block the media from accessing it. > > Click was seen in a widely distributed video confronting a photographer who was filming Monday’s protests. > > “Who wants to help me get this reporter out of here? I need some muscle over here!” Click yelled ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/2 "2015-11-11T20:17:33Z")
There appears to be a higher idiots to intelligents ratio in journalism than in the general population. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/3 "2015-11-11T20:27:05Z")
This has me shaking my head the hardest. Modern protests are events _staged for the media_. Getting your cause on the National News is sort of the point. It’s how you promote your agenda. You can’t and shouldn’t try to orchestrate events to block media from observing everything. Don’t try to sell them half a story. Look here! Don’t look over there! Ain’t gonna cut it. The media may be dumb but they aren’t entirely stupid. 😉 > [@](#): > > was among the activists who had formed a perimeter around the tent village at the center of the demonstration to block the media from accessing it. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 8:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/4 "2015-11-11T20:32:51Z")
> [@](#): > > It seems some of the students have already learned their lesson. > > The organizers of the protests distributed a PSA on Tuesday encouraging activists to welcome the press. Cool. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 8:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/5 "2015-11-11T20:39:37Z")
Another ironic bit; one photographer who was being denied access to the event is a student freelancing for ESPN. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/6 "2015-11-11T21:22:37Z")
As a former journalist, I’m appalled. What an idjit. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2015, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/7 "2015-11-11T22:45:11Z")
This is why, when I was a Journalism\* student there, the J-School students _hated_ the communication students over in Arts & Sciences. Melissa Click [(here’s her official webpage](https://communication.missouri.edu/faculty/click)) is a theoretician devoted to the interaction of mass communication and society. She has more in common with a sociologist than a journalist. [QUOTE=aceplace57] Glad to hear that she’s no longer in the journalism Dept. [/Quote] Bite your toungue! She only had privilege to serve on graduate Journalism students’ thesis/dissertation committees. That’s been revoked. She can keep all that theoretical crap in Arts & Sciences where it belongs! - You’ll notice the I keep capitalizing Journalism in the context of the University of Missouri School of Journalism and its programs. That’s our little affection – sort of like “The” Ohio State University. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/8 "2015-11-12T00:12:50Z")
And she is doing such important work for society. From the web page linked about her research includes: 50 Shades of Grey readers, the impact of social media in fans’ relationship with Lady Gaga and messages about class and food in reality television programming. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/9 "2015-11-12T00:18:46Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > And she is doing such important work for society. From the web page linked about her research includes: 50 Shades of Grey readers, the impact of social media in fans’ relationship with Lady Gaga and messages about class and food in reality television programming. Not to mention, her published work includes, “Relating to _Twilight:_ Fans’ Responses to Love and Romance in the Vampire Franchise,” “_Twilight_ and the Production of the 21 st Century Teen Idol,” and “The romanticization of abstinence: Fan response to sexual restraint in the _Twilight_ series.” Melissa Click is one of our foremost _Twilight_ scholars. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/10 "2015-11-12T01:39:27Z")
> [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](#): > > As a former journalist, I’m appalled. What an idjit. Yeah, same here on all counts. I doubt you’ll get anyone agreeing with with Melissa Click’s actions here, much less J-school students and journalists, and I’m sure the irony isn’t lost on anyone. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/11 "2015-11-12T02:09:55Z")
I’m not sure this is a First Amendment issue. Yes, freedom of the press is guaranteed, but what the 1st Amendment says is that the _government_ cannot restrict press coverage (with the usual caveats)…it does prevent _private citizens_ from restricting access. If she was acting on behalf of the University, then it could be argued that she was an agent of the government, but if she was acting as a private citizen, then she’s an idiot for trying to prevent media coverage of a public protest…but not violating anyone’s Constitutional rights. ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/12 "2015-11-12T02:15:32Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I’m not sure this is a First Amendment issue. > > Yes, freedom of the press is guaranteed, but what the 1st Amendment says is that the _government_ cannot restrict press coverage (with the usual caveats)…it does prevent _private citizens_ from restricting access. If she was acting on behalf of the University, then it could be argued that she was an agent of the government, but if she was acting as a private citizen, then she’s an idiot for trying to prevent media coverage of a public protest…but not violating anyone’s Constitutional rights. At one point in the video she said, “I’m a communications faculty and I really get that argument, but you need to go.” ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/13 "2015-11-12T02:54:32Z")
> [@hajaro](#): > > And she is doing such important work for society. From the web page linked about her research includes: 50 Shades of Grey readers, the impact of social media in fans’ relationship with Lady Gaga and messages about class and food in reality television programming. > [@Peremensoe](#): > > Not to mention, her published work includes, “Relating to _Twilight:_ Fans’ Responses to Love and Romance in the Vampire Franchise,” > “_Twilight_ and the Production of the 21 st Century Teen Idol,” and “The romanticization of abstinence: Fan response to sexual restraint in the _Twilight_ series.” > > Melissa Click is one of our foremost _Twilight_ scholars. What do you expect professors to focus on, Shakespeare? This is the 21st Century LOL ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/14 "2015-11-12T03:02:49Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > What do you expect professors to focus on, Shakespeare? This is the 21st Century LOL Breaking Bad? ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/15 "2015-11-12T03:53:49Z")
> [@ITR\_champion](#): > > What do you expect professors to focus on, Shakespeare? This is the 21st Century LOL In journalism and communications? Oh, I imagined they might discuss Walter Lippmann, Edward Bernays, work forward from there. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/16 "2015-11-12T04:39:28Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I’m not sure this is a First Amendment issue. > > Yes, freedom of the press is guaranteed, but what the 1st Amendment says is that the _government_ cannot restrict press coverage (with the usual caveats)…it does prevent _private citizens_ from restricting access. If she was acting on behalf of the University, then it could be argued that she was an agent of the government, but if she was acting as a private citizen, then she’s an idiot for trying to prevent media coverage of a public protest…but not violating anyone’s Constitutional rights. But if the journalist had a right to be there—and he did, absolutely—she can’t impede him. Just like i have no right to stop you from walking down a public street. She does not have to actually cooperate with him. She can refuse to grant an interview or answer his questions; she can encourage other people to do the same. But she can’t physically prevent him, and she certainly can’t call for other people (“muscle”) to remove him from the area, which is precisely what she was doing. ---
**Author:** ![Martin\_Hyde](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/47e85d/32.png) [@Martin\_Hyde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martin_Hyde)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/17 "2015-11-12T04:41:54Z")
> [@Suburban\_Plankton](#): > > I’m not sure this is a First Amendment issue. > > Yes, freedom of the press is guaranteed, but what the 1st Amendment says is that the _government_ cannot restrict press coverage (with the usual caveats)…it does prevent _private citizens_ from restricting access. If she was acting on behalf of the University, then it could be argued that she was an agent of the government, but if she was acting as a private citizen, then she’s an idiot for trying to prevent media coverage of a public protest…but not violating anyone’s Constitutional rights. Yeah, I don’t believe Ms. Click committed a “first amendment violation” of the journalist’s rights. He asserts he has a first amendment right to record and be present at a public gathering, along with the other journalists there who were doing the same. She participated in an unlawful detention/restraint of him and an assault. (Unlawful detention when the protesters formed rings around the journalists and denied them freedom of movement.) The journalist involved says he thinks it was regrettable but he accepted her apology, if he doesn’t want to press charges then that’s probably where it should end legally. As for her position with the university, I’m usually one to not think someone deserves being fired over “their worst day” that gets magnified 1000x because of the internet and social media. But this is still a close call, she’s a professor and she inappropriately assaulted a student, I’m not trying to use assault to exaggerate it, but just by letter of law you can’t do what she did, and she’s a professor who did this to a student–it’s really problematic. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 5:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/18 "2015-11-12T05:13:02Z")
I hate this game but if that had been a white professor and the student had been a minority… Wait, it was and it was. Carry on. ---
**Author:** ![tnetennba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7993a0/32.png) [@tnetennba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tnetennba)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/19 "2015-11-12T05:15:11Z")
Mass Comm isn’t the same as J School. Mass Comm is critical analysis and is often critical of, even a bit hostile to, the media. Her work seems in line with that. And I do think students need to learn critical assessment of media. She thought she was protecting students and got carried away by the emotions and maybe just a wee bit felt powerful because she was a faculty member in a high-profile situation. ---
**Author:** ![WF\_Tomba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/d9b06d/32.png) [@WF\_Tomba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WF_Tomba)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2015, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310/20 "2015-11-12T06:43:53Z")
As a white authority figure, she probably felt that she needed to go overboard demonstrating her allegiance and helpfulness to the cause, or risk rejection by the students. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-irony-of-the-mizzou-communications-journalism-professor-actions-at-protests/737310.md?page=2)