National scholastic journalism groups’ position on Neshaminy policy proposal
As the national organizations of journalism educators committed to the training of future journalists and the preparation of citizens for life in our democracy, we write to express our vigorous opposition to the proposed policy changes under consideration by the Neshaminy Board of School Directors that relate to school-sponsored student publications
We find the proposed policy changes, which give school officials virtually unlimited authority to censor student journalism even of the highest quality, educationally unsound, constitutionally insufficient and morally indefensible. They are inconsistent with the student media policies recommended by national education experts.
Read MoreIn case you missed Mary Beth Tinker
students provide solid coverage
Editor’s note: The following is the introduction to Mary Beth Tinker at Whitney High School in Rocklin, Calif. It is used here with permission in an effort to reach as many people as possible.
Journalism students at Whitney also published Storify coverage of the Tinker Tour here. Consider using Storify as another way to report events. News coverage can be read here and photo gallery coverage here .
The Tinker Tour also stopped April 2 at Monta Vista High School, and included a panel discussion with Tinker, Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center and Nick Ferentinos, retired adviser whose students won a post-Hazelwood censorship battle. Two Monta Vista students who successfully defied a subpoena earlier this year using the California shield laws also spoke.
Tomorrow, April 3, journalism students will live stream the Tinker Tour assembly from Convent of the Sacred Heart HS in San Francisco at 10:45 PDT. At the end, student journalists will take questions hashtagged #TinkerTourSF via Twitter.
How to apply to Making a Difference
and examine previous stories
The first Making a Difference in 1988 showed how students reported the impact of the Hazelwood decision.
Advisers, as you publish your students’ work, by print, broadcast or web, consider sharing your pieces that created change, reported significant issues or fulfilled the journalistic concept of social responsibility with the JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee’s Making a Difference project.
We want to make our posts monthly. These posts will highlight students who have made a difference through their reporting. When your students create content that has a positive impact on your school or community, and fulfills the concept of social responsibility, please fill out the submission form and we’ll tell you how to submit your content.
JEA Scholastic Press Rights Committee will post one or more packages a month on its website and promote them on social media.
We published our first copy of Making a Difference in hard copy in 1988 because of the Hazelwood malaise. In that version, now downloadable, we highlighted scholastic reporting that demonstrated student journalism did not need the heavy hand of prior review and censorship. That tradition continues today and will continue so long as students continue to take their roles seriously and professionally.
In 2012, we committed ourselves to updating the project, hoping to show student journalism had not succumbed to Hazelwood.
We have seen some great work by student journalists across the country covering some intense topics. Let’s show the country what great work student journalists are doing that rivals work done by professional journalists.
Here are some of the stories submitted earlier:
Making a Difference articles – 2015
• McKinney students get it right
• Journalists document controversy challenging community
• Don’t drink the water
• Students report on shattered dreams
• Students support peers across the country in censorship case
• Documenting biodiversity in chicagoland
• Student promotes need for sex education
Making a Difference articles – 2014
• Students speak out about cancellation of SGA elections
• And the children shall lead them. Student journalists Make a Difference
• Student journalists make a difference
• Making a Difference: Student journalists document controversy
• Broken Hearts and Broken Minds
• Students tackle coverage of rape culture
• Freshman capstone project localizes national issue of gay rights
• Guns in America: From schools to shooting ranges
• Students speak out about cancellations of SGA election
• Freshman capstone project localizes national issues of gay rights
• Exposing the killing impact of Heroin
• Students support peers across the country in censorship case
• Make history come alive by interviewing local veterans
Past student work:
• Past stories: You can Make a Difference. Show everyone how
Fond du Lac English department
posts support for students
in censorship fight
Fond du Lac (WI) High’s English department has submitted a statement supporting student journalists and advocating the need for an open forum for student expression at their school.
Student journalists there have been in a prior review and restraint battle with school officials over a story on rape, called “Rape Joke.”
Kettle Moraine Press Association director Linda Barrington also noted the students aired a video on school announcements March 21, with administration approval. The video had some explanation from the principal about why he thinks the guidelines for prior review are needed.
The video can be seen here.
Arguments made on the video include the general thought that the school would like more oversight, the thought that some of the words used in the story were too edgy, and a reference to the argument the principal has been giving lately that reporters should have gotten the permission from the rapists who may have been involved in the stories of sexual abuse related by the anonymous sources in the “Rape Joke” story.
Barrington said in am email to the Journalism Education Association’s listserv that the next school board meeting for the district is Monday, March 24 at 5 pm at the Fond du Lac School District Administration Center at 72 Ninth St.
“Students are looking for as much support there as possible,” Barrington wrote.
Students journalists have received more than 5,300 signatures on a petition to their superintendent to reverse his prior review and censorship decision.
Additional coverage links:
• Trust kids to speak
http://www.redeyechicago.com/news/censoring-rape-high-school-20140320,0,1091161.story
• High school student protest censorship of the ‘The Rape Joke,’ school publication restriction
http://www.stevenspointjournal.com/article/20140312/SPJ01/303120258/High-school-students-protest-censorship-Rape-Joke-school-publication-restrictions
• Fond du Lac student protest censorship mandate for school publication
http://www.sheboyganpress.com/article/20140312/SHE0101/303120232/Fond-du-Lac-students-protest-censorship-mandate-school-publication
• High school cracks down on student paper that published rape culture article
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/03/13/fond-du-lac-rape-article_n_4959167.html
•How far is too far? The issue of rape in the high school
http://wisoapbox.blogspot.com/2014/03/how-far-is-too-far-issue-of-rape-in.html
• High school administration teaches student journalists valuable lesson: We will censor you early and often
http://wonkette.com/543939/high-school-administration-teaches-student-journalists-valuable-lesson-we-will-censor-you-early-and-often
• oped: Rape culture article in school paper leads to censorship policy
http://www.digitaljournal.com/news/politics/rape-culture-article-in-school-paper-leads-to-censorship-policy/article/376415
• Wisconsin administrators impose prior review after news magazine’s story on sexual assault
http://www.splc.org/news/newsflash.asp?id=2691
• Principal requires approval of high school paper’s stories after rape culture article
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/mediawire/243237/principal-requires-approval-of-high-school-papers-stories-after-rape-culture-article/
• WI school offices seize control over student paper after ‘rape culture’ article appears
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2014/03/12/wi-school-officials-seize-control-over-student-paper-after-rape-culture-article-appears/
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High School Students, Teachers
Experience Student Media Censorship
More than 25 years after the Supreme Court limited First Amendment protections for high school student journalists, a survey of students and media advisers attending a national scholastic journalism convention indicates censorship is a fact of life in many schools. 
Of the 5,506 students and teachers who attended the National High School Journalism Convention in Boston, Mass., Nov. 14-17, 2013, 531 students and 69 advisers responded to survey questions asking about their experiences with censorship of student media.
Significant numbers of both students (32 percent) and advisers (39 percent) said school officials had told them not to publish or air something. Thirty-two percent of advisers reported a school official reviews the content of their student news medium before it is published or aired. And 60 percent of students said someone other than student editors had the final authority to determine the content of the student media they advise.
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