HBCU Students Believe The Media Less Than Other College Students

A survey finds that HBCU students do not really trust the media, as compared to students of other colleges.

According to the results of a survey released on Thursday, seventy-three percent of students at historically Black colleges and universities have got no trust in the media when it comes to truthfully reporting the news.

Fifty-six percent of the HBCU students also believe that student protesters should have the power to stop reporters from being on the scene of campus demonstrations, while only twenty-eight percent of college students, nationwide share the same belief, the survey read.

The survey, which was carried out by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and the Newseum Institute, served as a broad effort by the Knight Foundation to generate a better understanding of how college students view the first amendment. The survey was a follow-up of an earlier one conducted in April with all American college students as its subjects.

Nearly half of both HBCU students and the students of other colleges stated that the freedom of speech has gone up a notch, noting that it’s stronger than it used to be 20 years ago. Although, more than half of the African-American students believe that the right to gather and protest peacefully is under threat.

In comparison to college students nationally, HBCU students were reportedly more inclined to report having a positive racial climate on their campuses, and much more liable than African-American students at non-HBCUs to do so.

Sixty-one percent of Black students at non-historically-black institutions have described the atmosphere on their campus as “good” or “excellent” in terms of race compared to an overwhelming eighty-four percent of HBCU students. Students at historically black colleges and universities are also less liable to experience or hear vile comments about their religion, ethnicity or origin.

The atmosphere in HBCUs seems to be healthy, this knowledge fills us with pride and hope. These prospective youth see protests as a tool, not as a way of revenge, they don’t blindly listen to the media and they are not racist. We wish all the other educational institutions could demonstrate similar high spirits .

Source: The Chronicle of Higher Education