New ACF Report Exposes Institutional Bias at Campus Newspapers

IMMEDIATE RELEASE

September 22, 2022

Contact: Avi D. Gordon, Executive Director Alums for Campus Fairness

917-512-4585, [email protected]

 

New York, NY – Alums for Campus Fairness, America's unified alumni voice countering antisemitism on college and university campuses, released a groundbreaking new report, analyzing data from of 75 leading student newspapers from 2017 through 2022.

<Read The Full Report>

 

College newspapers are obsessed with Israel. Since 2017, newspapers at these 75 schools have published nearly 1,500 stories about a small country thousands of miles away. 

These same newspapers are notably silent on antisemitism and discrimination against Jews on their own campuses, publishing only 606 news articles about this growing trend in their own communities.

Campus media is extremely biased against Israel. Of all news articles that exhibited bias, 181 cast Israel in a negative light while only 14 portrayed Israel in a positive way.

Avi D. Gordon, Executive Director of Alums for Campus Fairness, release the following statement:

“A great deal of bias results from the exclusion of Jewish voices and Jewish perspectives. Jewish students and alumni should write more Op-Eds and also proactively reach out to student reporters to build relationships and offer themselves up as sources. Jewish students also should not shy away from joining their campus newspapers and becoming reporters and editors themselves. While this report clearly illustrates institutional bias, campus media is not a lost cause. Jewish students and alumni should engage more, not less.”

Op-Eds were by far the best way for Jewish and pro-Israel students and alumni to make their voices heard. While newspapers still published more anti-Israel Op-Eds (307) than pro-Israel Op-Eds (210), the split was not nearly as profound as it was among news articles.

The full report, including breakdowns by geographic region, is available for download here.

 

About ACF: Alums for Campus Fairness (ACF) is America’s unified alumni voice on issues of antisemitism, demonization of Israel, and bigotry. With over forty-five chapters, ACF positions thousands of alumni on the front lines of key issues at their alma maters and works to ensure that universities remain pillars of open dialogue and equal opportunity for all students. For more information, please visit www.campusfairness.org.