Earlier this semester, NYU student Alana Taylor wrote a posting for the PBS blog MediaShift critiquing the professor of her “Reporting Gen Y” class for not being up to date with new technology. Upon reading the posting, the professor told her students that they would not be allowed to blog about the class. After investigation by a MediaShift reporter, it was revealed that NYU has no policy about student blogging about class, and the professor subsequently told the reporter that students “were free to text, Twitter, blog, email, post on Facebook or whatever outlet they wanted about the course, my teaching, the content, etc.,” but then said that students would need her permission if they wanted to quote her directly.
So, should NYU have a policy on whether students can blog about classes? I don’t think so. There is a resilient First Amendment argument that students should be allowed to discuss their classes openly in the forum of their choosing. If professors are worried that students will attack them on the web, then they can at least rest assured that if the critique isn’t logical and well thought-out, then the readers (and the student’s potential employers, who will likely do an internet search) will see the postings for what they are—mean-spirited, personal criticism. This does not seem like the case with Taylor’s posting, but even if it was, it is her right to express her feelings and ideas about her coursework.
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