Questions
Does the start of a new school year always lead to rolling out new procedures, ideas or policies?Should it?
By John Bowen, MJE
Maybe, for instance, a new staff and school year might be an excellent time to revisit publication Mission Statements, Editorial Policy, your Ethical Guidelines and the procedures to carry out quality student media leadership made possible by journalistic responsibility?
Focus on an important news story reported as school starts.
Banning many things or ideas in schools is not new. Banning cell phones during the school day has a long and varied history of differing positions:
• Cell phones disrupted the school day.
• Cell phones encouraged cheating.
• Cell phones changed opinions when communities learned they could be useful.
• Cell phones could better alert parents if violence occurred at school.
• Cell phones, and their offspring, Smartphones, enabled students to cheat, to disrupt and to steal, but in newer ways.
World Press Day: Its freedoms ‘carry responsibility’ for us all
by John Bowen, MJE
May 3 is World Press Freedom Day. A day to celebrate press freedom.
On her Facebook post May 3, colleague Barb Hipsman Springer wrote, “as journalism goes, so goes democracy. Remember that freedoms carry responsibility for you, too.”
Noble words and commitments. Such statements often receive forceful agreement. Cheers and applause. A raised fist. All warranted, but maybe not enough.
April 29, Plain Dealer editor Chris Quinn, in a letter from the editor, raised another idea, one he said might seem out of place, especially to journalists.
The letter from the editor can be found here.
Read MoreWest Virginia makes it 17 New Voices states
West Virginia became the seventeenth state to pass New Voices legislation March 23. The new law, The Student Journalist Press Freedom Act, goes into effect June 9, 2023.
In a March 24 press release, the Student Press Law Center indicated a key part of the law ensures that high school and college students determine the content of school-sponsored media and protects them from censorship except in “narrow, well-defined circumstances.”
Photo by Pavel Danilyuk on Pexels.com
The law also protects advisers who shield students from retaliation for refusing to unlawfully censor student work.
The SPLC release mentioned current and former student journalists and teachers who spent three years advocating for student press freedom in the state, including Kellen Hoard, a recipient of SPLC’s 2022 Courage in Student Journalism Award.
JEA State Director Morgan Bricker, student media adviser at Weir High, and her students supported the legislation.
According to the SPLC release, Bricker called working to pass the legislation inspiring, compelling and validating the First Amendment.
“Seeing my students so engaged and determined to advocate for their own rights, bravely writing op-eds and contacting legislators, has been extremely validating,” Bricker said. “It tells me that they really are listening as I teach them about the First Amendment, press freedom and media law, and it motivates me to continue to improve and develop my skill as an educator.”
For further information
• SPLC press release on West Virginia
• What you can do to restore and protect student press freedom: a state-by-state guide
• New Voices (and much more)
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