WATCH: Student journalist says ‘Black Menaces’ group smears conservative college newspaper
Cougar Chronicle Editor-in-Chief Jacob Christensen spoke with Campus Reform's William Biagini about being a conservative journalist at Brigham Young University.
Jacob Christensen—editor-in-chief of The Cougar Chronicle—joined Campus Reform Florida Student Reporter William Biagini for an interview on erupting controversy at Brigham Young University (BYU) between The Cougar Chronicle and a band of leftist students known as the “Black Menaces.”
According to Christensen, the Black Menaces go around campus and attempt to trap students into filming “gotcha” videos by asking controversial religious questions for TikTok views.
[RELATED: ’Black Menaces’ student group expands nationwide]
While students are allowed to film on campus, filming and photography used for promotional or commercial purposes is strictly prohibited at BYU, according to school policy. Yet, as Christensen points out in the interview, “Of course they’re making money. They have almost a million followers on Tiktok.”
Additionally, he stated that “They have multiple videos on campus where they are filming on campus and they say ‘hey go buy our t-shirts on our website.’”
According to Christensen’s recounting of the struggle at BYU, recently, while the Black Menaces were filming another video, a BYU faculty member confronted them and informed them that they were in violation of school policy.
While the faculty member went to alert authorities at the Black Menaces’ continued filming on campus, Christensen peacefully stood in the way and blocked the camera. This was then used by the Black Menaces to smear The Cougar Chronicle and was turned into a race issue.
Christensen also highlights leftist backlash that he and The Cougar Chronicle were subject to.
“We’ve gotten plenty of DMs, plenty of emails,” he said. “Most notably, there are a few comments on his [Black Menaces leader] original videos where… one of them said ‘A swift punch to the jaw should teach them a lesson.’” Christensen said that the Black Menaces leader even “liked” the comment.
Watch the full interview on YouTube.
