Follow along with the Nebraska legislation for free expression
Those interested in a bit of real life government in action can follow the introduction of the Nebraska free expression legislation on Twitter at #LB898.
Follow along and see what is happening compared to legislation efforts in other states by comparing Nebraska’s bill with those of other states by using the SPLC library.
Nebraska’s bill can be seen at
http://www.netnebraska.org/publicmedia/capitol.html , hearing room #1525.
Read MoreAvoiding Legal Problems, Step 1: Interview Notes Deadline
Student newspapers have two ways to avoid legal problems. Your students can never print anything controversial, creative or of interest to their readers, or you can teach your students how to write about controversy responsibly.
This responsibility begins long before the story is printed. Having your editors check the interview notes of the reporters can quickly reveal that the students haven’t talked to the all the right people to get a balanced story. It gives time to check out possible liability and to get permission to use quotes in place.
It also prevents procrastination, always a problem for all of us.
Students often only talk to their friends, or, worse yet, use the internet and don’t localize the story by talking to students, administrators or local sources. Brainstorming sources and questions can help get students off in the right directions.
Have your editors negotiate reasonable individual story deadlines for these notes and stick to them. Extending deadlines needs to be done ahead of time and in extreme cases only. If a student isn’t “dead” for missing a deadline, deadlines don’t mean a thing.
Interview skills are a sellable skill and one that journalism classes teach well. You might remind your administrators that, although they might prefer not to answer students’ questions about controversial topics, the students are really learning important skills that will help them in all sorts of situations throughout their lives.
Role playing interview situations with beginners can teach those skills and can be loads of fun as well.
Adding “interview notes” to the list of deadlines can help get things moving early and make sure that stories are well balanced and have the important information that will avoid legal problems when the story is published.
Fern Valentine, MJE
Credibility may mean less censorship
Although we’ve walked around the edges of this topic, no one has ever done good quantitative research on the correlation between credibility and censorship. Maybe it’s time someone did to prove my point….
If your students can use AP style and know the difference between a pica and a pronoun, do they have more freedom to publish what they think is important for their audience to hear? If your administrator thinks YOU have a good handle on the basics of journalism, know something about law and ethics and can model vital interviewing skills, does he or she stay out of the publications room?
Granted, some recent high-profile cases seem to indicate no matter how much experience or how many degrees the teacher/adviser has, some principals and school boards are not happy with hard-hitting coverage. But I’m still willing to bet that a little credibility goes a long ways to hanging onto student First Amendment freedoms. If nothing else, it helps bolster the argument that students are learning solid lessons and not simply filling publication pages with fluff. Administrators DO want students to learn more, right?
With that in mind, it may be time to consider showing what you know by earning the Certified Journalism Educator or Master Journalism Educator designation from the Journalism Education Association. These don’t replace whatever credentialing the various states require, but they just might be a little boost to show your bosses you know what you’re teaching.
Oct. 1 is the deadline to apply for the new and improved CJE test to be offered in Washington, D.C. in November. To find out more, check the Certification Commission pages on the JEA Web site.
Clearly, there’s a good reason JEA has both a Scholastic Press Rights Commission and a Certification Commission. Each in its own way works to support journalism teachers and media advisers.
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