Tweet5: Decision-making content control
rests with students, rooted in professional standards
Have a journalistic purpose in mind for every story you write/propose. Don’t write stories to be sensational. #25HZLWD http://jeasprc.org/decision-students/
Those who want to control student media often point to incomplete, biased or sensational treatment of stories. It really does not matter if the topic is controversial in nature. What does matter is that students, no matter the platform or approach, report and present these topics following journalistic standards – and that they make the final decisions for all content.
• Journalists must learn to recognize legitimate news values.
• Journalists must verify, verify, verify.
• Journalists must ask the tough and nagging questions of authorities and others a democratic society needs to continuously evolve and prosper. They must also then question the answers for complete and relevant meaning.
• Journalists have the inherent responsibility to find the best sources and to present relevant information in context and perspective so citizens have adequate viewpoints to consider.
• Journalists must find not only the best resources but substantiate sources’ information they use as well as present it clear and meaningful.
Read MoreIt started on a ‘day like no other,’
but now it’s time for a change
by H. L. Hall
Hazelwood stories: It was a day like no other day. It was Jan. 13, 1988. For those involved with high school journalism it was an unlucky day.
A decision the United States Supreme Court made that day has continued to have a great impact on high school publications for 25 years, and it may continue to have a great impact for years to come, unless JEA and concerned advisers can do something to reverse the course.
Shortly after the Court announced its decision, Principal Franklin McCallie entered my classroom at Kirkwood High School.
“Did you hear,” he asked?
I knew immediately what he was talking about.
“I’m devastated,” I said, “but I’m not surprised.”
We talked about the consequences of the decision. Fortunately, I knew there would be no changes regarding the Kirkwood Call (newspaper) or Pioneer (yearbook.) Both had always operated as a designated public forum.
During my 34 years in the Kirkwood district I had the good fortune of working for three principals who supported the right of students to make wise decisions. Therefore, I never suffered the fate other advisers and their students did following the Hazelwood ruling. It’s been almost 14 years since I retired, and it’s still obvious the Tinker Standard, not the Hazelwood standard, is still in effect in Kirkwood.
Even though Hazelwood never affected my students, I was acutely aware of how it impacted other schools in the St. Louis area and across the country.
When Principal Gene Reynolds at Hazelwood East decided in May 1983 that articles in the Spectrum dealing with teenage pregnancy and the effects of divorce on students should not be published, Bob Stergos, the former adviser of the paper, called me. Stergos had resigned a few weeks earlier and the Hazelwood district replaced him with Howard Emerson, an interim adviser to serve until the end of the school year.
I had served as a mentor for Stergos as he wrote his master’s thesis on student press rights. Stergos also knew there had never been censorship at Kirkwood, so that’s why he called me to ask for advice. I suggested he have the students contact the Student Press Law Center, and then I urged him to remove himself from the confrontation. There was already animosity between him and the administration.
The students contacted the American Civil Liberties Union, and they decided to take the issue to the U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, alleging the district had violated their First Amendment rights. The students lost.
Although the U.S. Court of Appeals reversed the lower court’s ruling, the Supreme Court ruled 5-3 against the students Jan 13, 1988.
Following that ruling, journalism advisers throughout Missouri organized to try to get a state bill passed to override Hazelwood. For four consecutive years, McCallie and others testified before state congressional committees in favor of the bill, but to no avail. Since the case originated in Missouri, we knew it was an uphill battle, but we kept trying.
The bill went to different committees each year, but we always heard the same arguments from administrators in the Hazelwood district and from the legislators themselves. Their main concern was fear of a libel suit, so there had to be some control placed on student journalists. Those fighting for the bill were never able to get any committee to report it out to the full legislature for consideration.
Aaron Manfull, a Missouri adviser, tells me he is not aware of any effort still going on in the state to get a bill passed. As far as I know there hasn’t been any effort since the 1990s. Even if it is an uphill battle, the efforts should continue.
McCallie was the only Missouri administrator speaking on behalf of the bill. He has now retired. I hope other administrators will renew the fight. Missouri is the “Show Me” state. For 25 years state legislators have shown they don’t support student freedom of expression. It’s time they change their minds and join legislators in those states who do. The “Show Me” slogan should become “We Will Show You.”
It’s time. Twenty-five years has been long enough.
H.L.Hall is the 1983 Dow Jones News Fund High School Journalism Teacher of the Year and JEA’s first Yearbook Adviser of the Year. He has won numerous awards himself, and his students dominated scholastic journalism awards for many years. In his retirement, he continues to work with JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission and serves as an adjunct professor for Kent State University’s Center for Scholastic Journalism.
Read More
High school students, teachers
report student media censorship
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – Twenty-five years after the Supreme Court limited First Amendment protections for high school student journalists, a survey of students and media advisers attending a national journalism convention suggests that censorship in their schools is a common occurrence.
Of the 4,540 students and teachers who attended the National High School Journalism Convention in San Antonio, Tex., Nov. 15-18, 2012, 500 students and 78 advisers responded to survey questions asking about their experiences with censorship of student media.
Significant numbers of both students (42 percent) and advisers (41 percent) said school officials had told them not to publish or air something. Fifty-four percent of students reported a school official reviews the content of their student news medium before it is published or aired. And 58 percent of advisers said someone other than students had the final authority to determine the content of the student media they advise.
Read MoreAnniversary provides opportunity to thank, educate decision-makers
While next week’s 25th anniversary of the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier decision isn’t something to celebrate in a traditional sense, it does offer the opportunity for pause and reflection. And in some cases, it gives us the chance to say thanks.
Thank you to the principals, school board members and decision-makers out there supporting student journalists and the educational experience involved in a media program free of administrative control. Thank you for trusting students, under the guidance of teachers and advisers, to do their jobs as reporters. Thank you for encouraging their journey through a process that involves tireless research, interviewing, critical thinking, writing, editing and revision — the stories they tell truly make a difference.
In many states, principals by law can exercise prior review. Thankfully many know better and decide against this practice. The 25th anniversary of the Hazelwood decision seems like a great time to say thank you to those principals. If you’d like to send a letter or note of appreciation, now’s the time.
Here’s a simple card you can download and customize as a way to say thanks from journalism students to their principal, for example. Ready to print and use — with student signatures, a staff photo or whatever meets your needs.
Want to send a letter or email? Maybe this sample will help:
Dear principal/administrator/school official,
Thank you for the continued support of our journalism program and the daily opportunities it provides for our students as 21st-century learners.
This month, we are reflecting on the 25th anniversary of a Supreme Court case that significantly limited student media — Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier — and I am reminded again of how challenging it would be to advise publications in a school setting that failed to support student press freedom. True growth, learning and leadership occurs when students are accountable for their own decision-making process and work independently to serve the school community. Through thorough research and careful reporting, they are able to tell important stories that benefit others.
Advising in a supportive environment free of prior review (a form of censorship) offers a win-win. As students engage in thoughtful decision-making and critical thinking, I am able to focus as the teacher on creating meaningful, standards-based lessons.
I am proud to be part of a school climate that demonstrates a solid commitment to an authentic education and civic engagement.
Sincerely,
Adviser
Tweet3: Strong editorial polices
speed you to the Hazelwood cure
Once you have established yourselves as forums, the next step is to design clear and concise policies that protect student final decision-making for your media, and that help protect the school system and community from harm. The best policy can protect you from many illnesses, including Hazelwood, and will go a long way to speed you to the Hazelwood Cure. A bad policy can be worse than the plague..
Many models of policies exist. It is important for you to have a consistent policy across all your student media.
In addition to information below, a myriad of other support on policies exists on the SPLC website and on JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission site.
Resources for developing sound policies
• JEA statement on prior review
• Steps for developing edit policies
• Double-edged sword of policies
• SPLC model editorial policy
• Press Rights Commission PowerPoint on edit policies
• JEA model edit policy
• First Amendment Schools sample policies and information
• Good policies establish credibility
Tweet2: Choosing your forum status is like choosing the best medicine
Which forum? Best prescription to cure Hazelwood is open forum for student expression.
http://jeasprc.org/choosing-forum…-best-medicine/ #25HZLWD
Establishing your student media as open forums for student expression – not closed or limited forums – can make a huge difference in developing a cure of Hazelwood. The best forum is like preventative medicine. The worst is like being exposed to active disease cultures. The information and resources below can help you on the road to wellness.
The information below is broken into several categories:
• Deciding which forum best serves your students – and your community
• Importance of designated forum status
• Questions to consider when setting up your forum status
• Questions to ask those who want to limit the forum
• Additional resources (Forum definitions, List of designated open forums, CSJ Forum PowerPoint, CSJ Forum Application)