Ok , I 'll explain it¶

Ok, I'll explain it.

You already answered your own question: "Journalists want to talk to participants, not just official spokespeople."

The goal of these actions is not to garner media attention, it's to directly force universities to divest their capital from Israel. https://t.co/vYSODiPICx I understand that this might be a novel concept for you, but it's true! They have absolutely no desire to entreat the media to help them spin a "narrative" so they can "change hearts and minds." They are trying to directly make it impossible for universities to conduct business. The reason the media wants to talk to participants instead of "official spokespeople" is the exact reason the movement refuses to give them that. The media is an arm of political power, the lens through which capital's interests are refracted and focused onto the masses. The power of the media comes from its usefulness to capital, and to survive, it must serve that same power structure that also creates the very genocide these students are fighting. They recognize that there is no pleading with a system that is doing what it's designed for. Why talk to participants? Because not everyone is good on camera. When journalists come calling, they are betting on the stress of being seen, the plays toward ego, etc. causing individuals to slip up. They want untrained, passionate activists saying things that they can use. Saying something that can be taken out of context, something that can be twisted to paint the entire movement as uninformed, rambling, chaotic, hypocritical, heinous, dangerous. Anyone can make these mistakes when they're inexperienced in media relations and unprepared to speak. Imagine being dragged out onto a stage in front of thousands of people and being told to give an impromptu lecture on any given subject, even something you know pretty well! You might know it well enough to improvise a lecture, but you'll almost certainly stammer or flub a word. You might state something as fact that is simply not true -- which you KNOW is not true, and that you would never say, given the time to prepare. But the stress of being thrust into this position, of having all those judging eyes on you, makes your brain clumsy. The students are far too disciplined to fall for these feeble tricks. They don't have anything to gain from letting predatory journalists run rampant. By keeping a tight lid on media contact, they both preempt deliberate distortions and present a unified front. The people who want to know what's going on -- the potential supporters, the people who might be inspired to take action themselves -- get their information directly from the movement leaders. Not the press.