As advisors, it’s our job to train up the next watchdogs. We encourage our students to ask tough questions with professionalism and tact. But what happens when a student journalist is punished for doing exactly that? In recent headlines, University of Virginia student Sophia Bangura was terminated from her post as a WUVA reporter.
WUVA published an interview with Interim President Paul Mahoney on October 12. According to Bangura, she was asked to produce the interview and draft the questions for the Q&A.
“I was tasked to be a producer on that project and create the questions. I had worked with the students, and we all agreed prior to that interview that this was going to be a tough interview—to talk about everything from President Ryan’s sudden resignation to the compact to deportation on Grounds,”
Bangura said at a UVA event with veteran journalist Jim Acosta.
According to reporting by C-VILLE Weekly, Bangura alleged that several of her original interview questions were removed by Cameron Mottley, the current vice president of WUVA and a media relations intern for University Communications, who also served as the interviewer on the project.
Credit: Aaron Josephson; cropped by Ibn Battuta, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons
Bangura provided a list of the omitted questions, including:
“Since the BOV dissolved the office of DEI in March, CIOs focused on the celebration of racial and ethnic groups say they have had to change their bylaws to exclude language promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion to receive funding. What do you say to groups who fear this could be the end for cultural groups on Grounds?”
and
“UVA has a sizable international student population; what do you say to international students on Grounds fearing deportation?”
According to Bangura, the turning point occurred after the main interview concluded.
President Mahoney did answer questions relating to DEI at UVA, but the topics of international students and immigration were not included in the official recorded interview. Bangura alleges that she asked Mahoney the omitted questions once the formal interview ended.
“I began listing them to him, and then posing the question to him again,” Bangura said. “At the end of the interview, I asked the questions that were omitted from the original document. President Mahoney answered them, and we went back to the studio to begin the editing process.”
Bangura states that shortly after, Mottley informed her that her conduct during the interview was inappropriate. According to C-VILLE Weekly, WUVA President Conwell Morris contacted Bangura on October 10 asking her to apologize to the president’s office for her conduct. When Bangura declined to apologize, she was terminated from her position at WUVA on October 15.
In a statement to C-VILLE Weekly, Morris said:
“We require our staff to adhere to WUVA’s reporting and editing guidelines and to the direction, oversight, and decision-making of our editors and managing staff.”
Morris referenced a fourth-year UVA student who, he said, did not conduct themselves with “politeness and professionalism” during the interview.
Seeking clarification on her termination, Bangura received the following excerpt, as first reported by C-VILLE Weekly:
“The reason for your termination can be summed up quite briefly: insubordination. Your repeated disregard for the customs and courtesies of our organization— and its structure—culminated in your poor behavior while conducting the interview with Interim President Paul Mahoney. This behavior is incompatible with our mission at WUVA. I do not have confidence in your ability to conduct yourself professionally within the organization, or with members of the community at large.”
Morris further suggested that Bangura should reflect on her “behavior,” adding that her future career in journalism would depend on her maturity.
“The hole is deep enough; you can stop digging.”
For student journalists—and the advisors who train them—the situation raises ongoing questions about press freedom, editorial independence, and the consequences of asking hard but necessary questions.
Bangura has not been in communication with WUVA since her termination and said she was encouraged to share her experience publicly during a UVA event featuring CNN journalist Jim Acosta. You can watch that exchange in the video below.
University of Virginia’s Interim President Paul Mahoney sat down with Cameron Mottley discussing his role and expectations as the Interim President.
