OPINION: The anonymity epidemic rages on

My TSL coworkers and my friends have heard me say many times: there is an anonymity epidemic at the Claremont Colleges. By this, I mean that students are unreasonably — yes, unreasonably — afraid of providing publications with their own thoughts, opinions and experiences on the record.

Going on the record can be scary; I’ve been an interviewee, too. But people are no longer only afraid of putting their names on inflammatory exposés or political analyses — they’re afraid of putting their name out there at all. However, those of us who still retain a relatively great degree of privilege have a responsibility to exercise our own free speech.

Historically, the press has played a crucial role in checking government missteps and holding power to account. There is no more critical time for this than now. Thus, I beg of you: please give that 10 minute interview — to me, to TSL, to the Claremont Independent if you must — and put your name on it.

I’m intimately familiar with this issue; I’ve watched it evolve over time. Quick LinkedIn review (quick flex, too, if you’re nerdy): I edit for TSL’s news section, an international digital affairs magazine and the Outback Newsprint Magazine. I have also reported for multiple other publications both in Claremont and back home in New York. I’ve conducted hundreds of interviews in my years as an aspiring journalist, and no other moment has compared to the present regarding anonymity requests. People do not want to have their name on any – and I mean any – article. 

Interview topics that students have requested anonymity for include, but are not limited to, the following: scooter thefts, Simone Biles’ visit to Scripps, the Robert Day Science Center’s launch ceremony and No Kings Day. Sure, No Kings Day is political, but hardly radical. Donald Trump will not arrest you if you hold up a sarcastic sign at a liberal rally approved and attended by several of the world’s elite.

The other examples, like scooters and Simone Biles, are even more tenuously risky. Therein lies my point. Pleading the Fifth may be just as much your right as claiming the First Amendment, but if we don’t feel comfortable sharing our thoughts on such unthreatening topics, how can we possibly expect to maintain dialogue about important systemic issues?

Many people have incredibly valid reasons to request anonymity or protect their identity. The Trump administration is threatening free speech in increasingly overt ways. Students are being deported for inane reasons, from exercising their First Amendment rights to protest to co-writing an opinion piece criticizing their college administration’s response to humanitarian violations in Gaza.  

This is all on top of their rampant escalation of ICE operations, which the administration proudly admits are carried out using racial profiling. Many across the country are afraid of leaving the house or leaving without their passport, or even speaking Spanish in public. Giving comments to a local paper is, in cases like these, indubitably out of the question.

But in order for reporters to do their job in representing the communities they write about, we have to talk to people. At TSL, for example, we require a minimum of three interviewees per news article. We aim for five to six. Other publications I’ve worked at employ similar practices. This helps us paint a fair, comprehensive and accurate picture that ideally conveys a multitude of perspectives on a topic. And interviews take interviewees.

The fourth estate is essential to democratic stability and holding powers to account. Without newspapers, people across the world would not have known about Watergate, the Pentagon Papers or systemic abuse in the Catholic Church. The government has consistently demonstrated that they are not willing to tell us everything we need to know to make informed decisions and uphold our civic duties — this has never been more true than right now. Thus, the press occupies an essential role in our democratic landscape.

It is incredibly difficult to report effectively in an environment that discourages open dialogue. Do not mistake me for a Republican with a victim card who thinks they’ll get shot for supporting fiscal conservatism in a class at Claremont McKenna College. However, there is an omnipresent and dangerous fear, likely exacerbated by the digital age, that attaching one’s name to any words that are not meticulously planned out is a recipe for disaster. 

But to those of us who still have reason to believe that we possess a modicum of free speech — and yes, things are bad, but most of us do — it is imperative that we continue using our voices.

There are people all around the world and indeed in this country who are repressed far more than we, the collective Claremont consortium, are. Giving an on-the-record interview to the girl you took an econ class with once for her student newspaper might not seem important, but it’s a step in the right direction.

I would be remiss to not acknowledge that I am writing this as someone risking very little in regards to retaliation by any Claremont College administration or the Trump administration. Until Trump starts targeting rich white girls who occasionally report on politics at their tiny liberal arts consortium, I’m safe. 

Furthermore, it’s true that I have a vested interest in getting more people to go on the record and talk to me as a reporter. It’s my job. I also know that many reporters are, at best, insensitive and flippant or, at worst, inconsiderate, aggressive and rude. I can’t do much more than say that all of these things are true — whether I like it or not — and that I am also imploring you to listen to me regardless. 

However, because of, not despite, the present administration’s attacks on free speech, everyone should be excited at the opportunity to defy Trump’s agenda of fear and use their voice. You might not change the world, and let’s face it, you probably will be subjected to 30 minutes of questions about shit no one cares about to write an article that no one will read. Nevertheless, your personal contribution matters. Journalism, at its best, is a voice for the voiceless.  Hate the press all you want – just talk to them. Curse them out, if you want to. Just be strong in your convictions and do it on the record. Doing so lays the foundation for the discourse that is the lifeblood of democracy.