EDWARDSVILLE - A conversation about student journalism and freedom of the press at the university level is heating up at SIUE, with the police now involved.
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SIUE’s student newspaper, “The Alestle,” has received backlash from SIUE administrators following a conversation between reporters and SIUE’s Communications Director Nicole Franklin. In July 2026, Franklin told a reporter that she would sit in on an interview and record the conversation.
When asked if her presence was required for the interview to move forward, Franklin told “The Alestle” reporters and faculty advisor Tammy Merrett that she ultimately decides if and how a university staff member will complete an interview with “The Alestle” and stated her presence at interviews was “nonnegotiable.”
Student reporters reached out to the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) and the Student Press Law Center (SPLC). Marie McMullan, FIRE Student Press Counsel, has been working with Merrett and “The Alestle” editor-in-chief Dylan Hembrough. McMullan and her team argue that the university’s decision to require a “media minder” to attend interviews is a violation of the First Amendment.
“Student journalists are the best watchdogs for a college campus because they’re the ones who are on the ground,” McMullan said. “Sometimes, though, there are officials, government officials, in the case of a public university or college campus, who use that moniker of ‘student’ almost as a way to try to limit their rights when they still have press rights, they still have speech rights, and they should be able to freely publish without fear of intimidation.”
“The Alestle” reported on Franklin’s statement, which prompted SIUE’s Executive Director of University Marketing and Communications Paula Bridges to write an open letter expressing her concerns about “what seems to be a disregard for accuracy and facts by ‘The Alestle.’” Bridges said “the claim that the Communications Director threatened to block a student reporter’s interview is simply false.”
On Sept. 9, 2026, Hembrough and Merrett were asked to speak to campus police regarding alleged harassment. Franklin reported Hembrough to the police for harassment as part of this ongoing situation.
“Southern Illinois University Edwardsville should be ashamed of its strong-arm tactics to silence its own students,” McMullan said. “Siccing cops on journalists is something you’d expect to see from a tinpot dictatorship, not a university in the heartland of America.”
FIRE and SPLC have contacted the university to offer training on student journalists’ rights. They are now requesting “a substantive response…confirming [SIUE] will not require a media minder to be present during interviews.”
“SIUE has the opportunity now to reverse course,” McMullan said. “We offered in our letter for FIRE to come in and do trainings with administrators if they don’t know First Amendment rights of students and they wanted to be able to make their policies align in a way that their legitimate, reasonable concerns are met while ‘The Alestle’s’ reasonable, legitimate concerns are also met, and they did not come to the table with us. So we're just asking them to come to the table.”
Hembrough, who has served as the editor-in-chief of “The Alestle” for the past three years, noted that many SIUE students have expressed their support for the student journalists. While the experience has been anxiety-inducing, he stands behind the actions of “The Alestle.”
“I’ve actually been relatively okay during this, and I think that stems from, I know that what we’re doing is the right thing, and that we have so much support,” he said. “The student body really does care what their leadership is doing and is ready to make their voices heard when leadership is not representing them the way that they should be.”
Hembrough and McMullan noted that student journalists’ First Amendment rights are a debate across the country. McMullan encouraged the community to support SIUE student journalists and to “keep eyes on the student press in Edwardsville.”
She said that the university’s pushback against “The Alestle” and the police report against Hembrough would “chill” most students, but the reporters are “a really brave group.” Hembrough expressed his commitment to freedom of the press and “The Alestle.”
“I think what would resolve this is if they just back off and recognize that they’re bullying students at their own institution, and it seems like a lot of other people are recognizing that too,” he added. “But I think at the point that we’re at now, I’m only seeing it escalating, which is unfortunate. But if that’s what has to happen, then we’re ready for it.”
Franklin was contacted for comment and expressed her commitment to the First Amendment.
“Personally and professionally I am fully committed to freedom of the press,” she said.
