It's a professional journalists' job to tell a clear and accurate story. But as we see more protests across college campuses, what is it like for student journalists to cover their peers as they make their voices heard? 

"Keeping it fair, keeping it impartial," said Kyle Chouinard, the semester's managing editor at The Daily Orange. "And, you know, that's really all you can do. When there's a conflict of interest, we try to make it as open as possible so people feel comfortable kind of saying like, 'Hey, I know this person, I shouldn't be doing this interview.'"

"You're like, 'Oh, do I not photograph them because I know them?" said Meghan Hendricks, senior photographer for The Daily Orange. "But then ultimately, like they're part of it. So you can't you can't let your own personal feelings or anything interfere with that."

Chouinard and Hendricks have contributed to The Daily Orange’s coverage of the pro-Palestinian protests at Syracuse University. The Daily Orange is Syracuse University’s student news organization. 

“When we were talking about how we were going to cover this, we drew heavily from looking at other college papers, what they've done," Chouinard said. "And something I told the staff was like, 'you know, this is happening at the end of semester, and that makes it more difficult.' But the one advantage we have is that we're not alone in covering this.”

Now and before, Syracuse University students took part in the anti-apartheid protests in 1985. A Not Again SU protest formed in response to SU’s handling of on-campus hate incidents in 2019. There’s previous coverage to learn from and alumni to reach out to. 

"I've asked plenty of people, like, 'How we're doing? How's it like from an outside perspective? What are we doing right? What are we doing wrong?" he said. "And again, like I said, I've been happy to hear that's been mostly positive." 

Each student is sticking to the fundamentals of journalism that they’ve learned to bring the best coverage to the community. 

"You know, when there's a demonstration like there was with the pro-Israel walk yesterday, we're getting that perspective," said Chouinard. "And when there is a pro-Palestinian demonstration, we get that perspective. And when the administration put something out, that goes in as well."