Scholastic journalists often
face demands like Delauter’s
I strongly encourage every student publication adviser being told his or her students can’t use names or photos in their print or online publications because of FERPA (or some other manufactured privacy justification) to read the Frederick News Post’s editorial on this crazy Frederick County council member, Kirby Delauter, and his demand for media not to use his name without permission.
• Delauter to the News-Post: Don’t use my name without permission
Working together can make a difference
by Stan Zoller, MJE
Maybe we should take a cue from our brethren in sports.
Let’s win one for the Gipper.
All for one and one for all.
“Individual commitment to a group effort – that is what makes a team work, a company work, a society work, a civilization work.” – Vince Lombardi
As journalism educators, we strive for excellence in our individual programs and thrive on the recognition we get when our students excel. We also appreciate the recognition for our own professional efforts.
But when programs come under fire – whether it’s censorship, prior review, prior restraint or whatever, there is strength in numbers. If you are in a multi-school district, make sure the student media advisers get together on a regular basis during the school year to discuss how things are going – and not just bemoaning the fact that deadlines are not being met.
I heard about a district where there was an edict handed down to yearbooks that not all of the yearbook advisers knew about it. It turns out it was focused on one yearbook, and not the others in the district. Interestingly enough, the discussion about covering non-school sponsored teams did not, so I was told, apply to newspapers because “they’re different.”
It’s essential to make sure decisions regarding any student media are shared with all student media. If you are not in a multi-school district, trying connecting with other area advisers to see what issues, if any, they may be facing. Not sure which route to go? Take a look at the conference your athletic teams compete in and use that as a springboard for an advisers forum.
Make sure too that you include advisers with all levels of experience. Advisers with extensive tenure should not dominate because they’ve been teaching for decades. New advisers bring new ideas and the exchange among veterans and newbies can not only be invigorating, but helpful as well. Go beyond the “I” and make sure you incorporate plenty of “we” in your advisers group.
And as is the case with any team, a combination of rookies and veterans can really make things happen.
Read MoreApply now for national First Amendment award
by John Bowen
Applications are now available for this year’s First Amendment Press Freedom Award (FAPFA).
19 journalism groups urge
administrator organizations to disavow
Neshaminy board punishment of paper, adviser and editor
Oct. 13, 1987 marked the U.S. Supreme Court’s hearing the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier arguments that ultimately granted administrators the right to control content of high school media in limited situations.
Oct. 13, 2014 marks a time when 19 journalism organizations joined together to urge national groups of administrators and school boards to openly disavow actions of the Neshaminy (Pa.) Board of Education that even went beyond the constraints of Hazelwood in controlling content and punishing student journalists.
“In what we hope will be a watershed event in curing America of the worst excesses of the Hazelwood era,” SPLC executive director Frank LoMonte wrote to the Advisory Committee of the SPLC, “19 of the nation’s leading journalism organizations — including SPJ, JEA, CMA and the American Society of News Editors — co-signed an SPLC-authored letter distributed today to the nation’s leading school-administrator organizations, urging them to distance themselves from and to publicly disavow the retaliatory behavior of school administrators in Neshaminy, Pa., who are punishing student journalists for refusing to use the offensive name of the schools’ mascot.”
The joint statement can be read here.
Part of the statement pointed directly to the Hazelwood decision’s involvement: “This is a level of authority even beyond the outermost limit the Supreme Court recognized in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, to say nothing of the fact that Pennsylvania law repudiates the Hazelwood standard.”
JEA’a Press Rights Committee and the SPLC had paired on a statement earlier this month condemning Neshaminy board actions punishing the student paper, the adviser and editor.
JEA also commented on the joint statement.
Read MoreOn news engagement day,
let’s engage others
with news about censorship
Oct. 7 is #newsengagementday, a national event created by AEJMC.
The idea is to encourage everyone to engage with news issues and ideas with students, family and, well, everyone.
National News Engagement Day was created to:
- Raise awareness about the importance of being informed.
- Encourage everyone to engage with news from reading and watching to tweeting and discussing.
- Help people of all ages discover the benefits of news.
- Educate the public about the principles and process of journalism.
- Ensure news engagement does not die out.
JEA has endorsed the idea and urges all to participate.
I know journalism programs do this daily anyway, but let’s take this one step further.
Let’s spend the day spreading the word about the banality of censorship, particularly that kind of destructive practice we have seen at Neshaminy High School, Highlands Regional High School, Fond du Lac High School and numerous others.
Numerous other resources exist for each school, all findable by searching.
Censorship practices at those schools, past and present is newsworthy in itself, but it also blocks students and related communities from experiencing news.
Making censorship and its effects the focus on news, and using the #newsengagementday hashtag to let others know, would be a worthy use of the day.
Read MoreWhere do trust and prior review meet?
Leading a scholastic media staff in the shadow of Hazelwood
by Chris Waugaman, MJE
A lack of trust can destroy scholastic journalism. We have seen it in a number of recent cases.
The scenario involves a student publication and a disgruntled administration. The cause of this tension can come from a variety of places, but in the end what has been broken is trust.
After this point, the battle of what you can and cannot censor in prior review becomes the first battle in an all out war. Sometimes it is unavoidable. But if there is a way to stop this from happening it begins with trust.
Read More