Watch as a media professor at the University of Missouri hassles a cameraman for trying to film a protest

Matt Rosoff

Nov 10, 2015, 11:35 IST

The continuing tensions at the University of Missouri sparked a debate about media freedom this afternoon, as a group of students tried to block another student reporter from filming and taking pictures of a tent city that was part of an on-campus protest.

At one point near the end of the video, a woman later identified by the New York Times as Melissa Click, an assistant professor of mass media at the university, tries to grab the video camera from Mark Shierbecker, who was recording the interaction between the students and reporter Tim Tai.

Click then calls for some "muscle" to "get this reporter out of here."

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The protestors in the tent camp were part of a months-long student protest over racism on campus and the university administration's slow and insufficient response. University President Tim Wolfe resigned today after the protests escalated to include a hunger strike by student Jonathan Butler and a refusal by the school's football team to play this weekend.

Watch the incident here:

The video spread virally and attracted a lot of comments on Twitter. Most were sympathetic toward the reporter.

Everything about this video of Univ of Missouri protesters trying to stop a reporter from doing his job is appalling https://t.co/kZ1i1UqW3J
- Michael Cohen (@speechboy71) November 10, 2015

I feel sorry for this reporter. There are so many idiots on college campuses these days. https://t.co/b1JDnbtdld
- The real Jon Brodkin (@jbrodkin) November 9, 2015

This video of a journalist being pushed back at University of Missouri is disturbing & wrong. https://t.co/sLFnoL5F6H
- Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) November 10, 2015

Re: that Missouri protest video -- good for the student photographer for keeping his cool. Had to be infuriating, but he stayed calm.
- Christian Caple (@ChristianCaple) November 9, 2015

One person pointed out that Professor Click had previously asked for help getting national media to cover the protests:

MU comms professor blocking media recently asked how she could attract national media attention. Well done, Melissa pic.twitter.com/jvuCD7eQBw
- Michael C Moynihan (@mcmoynihan) November 10, 2015

Another cautioned people not to rush to judge the professor:

Not certain best response to Missouri video is five-minute hate against Melissa Click, but that's probably what will happen
- James Palmer (@BeijingPalmer) November 10, 2015

While the reporter, Tim Tai, remained humble and called for calm:

Wow. Didn't mean to become part of the story. Just trying to do my job. Thanks everyone for the support.
- Tim Tai (@nonorganical) November 10, 2015

Have learned that some people in the video with me are getting death threats. That's unacceptable and sickening.
- Tim Tai (@nonorganical) November 10, 2015

The cameraman, Shierbecker, made this official statement:

Official statement: I will not allow students to silence dissent by becoming a human meat wall that rolls over journalists doing their jobs.
- Mark Schierbecker (@Schierbecker) November 10, 2015

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