When members of the Churchill County Education Association in Fallon, Nev. thought an article in the high school student newspaper made a teacher look bad, their reaction wasn’t very educationally sound: They wanted administrators to censor the publication.

Lauren MacLean’s article in The Flash covered a controversy over audition tapes for the state honor choir and parental concern with the music teacher who, they claim,  was to have sent them. Mark Goodman, Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism at Kent State, who wrote about this in the Center for Scholastic Journalism blog, has seen the article and reports, “It is student journalism at its best: fact-based, not inflammatory, insightful, relevant.  It simply gives readers the facts and lets them reach their own conclusions.”

Jerry Ceppos, dean of the Reynolds School of Journalism at the University of Nevada and former executive editor of the San Jose Mercury News, also expressed his concern. On the Web site for the Reno Gazette-Journal, Ceppos suggested the teachers’ union needed the colorful, two-story-tall banner now hanging in his school with the 45 words in the First Amendment sewn into it.

Luckily, no one censored anything. According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, MacLean’s article was to run Friday. Its editorial concluded, “But in the little town of Fallon, a welcome spark of freedom now shines. Taking the more courageous and principled course, Mr. Lords (the principal) and Ms. Ross (the superintendent) — and young Lauren MacLean — did well.”

Should we be bothered that the superintendent told Ceppos both she and the principal read the article before publication? Maybe that’s material for another blog.

Do school officials have the right to punish students for postings they make online from their home computers? Whether they have the right or not, they are doing it, especially for posts students make on their Facebook accounts.

The Nashville Tennessean newspaper reported yesterday that administrators had expelled a student at Martin Luther King Jr. High School in Nashville earlier this month. The student, who made the post from his home computer, typed his frustrations concerning a coach he’d had problems with at school. “I’ma kill em all,” the student said. “I’m a bust this (expletive} up from the inside like nobody’s ever done before.” The Tennessean reported  the student said the threat wasn’t real, but school officials said they couldn’t take any chances.

This case is similar to others across the nation where administrators have disciplined students for their online comments even though the comments were made off school grounds.

The Tennessean said school officials have become sensitive to cyber-threats since a Missouri teenager committed suicide in 2006 supposedly because of  online harassment.

This is not the only case where school administrators have taken action against students for online postings. According to the Tennessean, officials suspended a seventh grader in Syracuse, NY, this month for what they considered “inappropriate and libelous” material against a teacher.

The Nashville student was just one semester away from graduating. He claims the posts were taken out of context and that he never intended to hurt anyone. He also has written a letter of apology to his coach. The student and his family appealed the suspension, but they lost. His parents are home schooling him for the rest of the year.

“Online speech is hazy,” David Hudson, a scholar at the First Amendment Center in Nashville, told the Tennessean. Hudson said the Supreme Court has yet to decide a case on the matter. School officials, he said, have to determine if a threat like this one is true or whether the speech would cause a substantial disruption to school activities.

“True threats,” Hudson said, “are not protected by the First Amendment, so you have to determine whether it is a true threat or whether there was another meaning.”

In Nashville schools, officials have banned social networking sites like Facebook,. However, the Tennessean said students often consider their online lives at home completely separate from the school’s code of conduct and that a Facebook posting is no more public than a phone conversation with friends. Who’s right?

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.

According to a news flash from the Student Press Law Center , Nebraska Sen. Ken Haar’s student freedom of expression bill, LB 898, will get a public hearing Tuesday.

The SPLC reports the proposed bill would prevent schools from restricting speech unless it is defamatory, obscene or otherwise unprotected by the First Amendment.

Here is link to the Nebraska proposal.

In light of recent censorship situations around the country, especially Stevenson High in Illinois and Timberland High in Missouri, please help the JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Commission expand its outreach to those facing censorship issues.

We also want to celebrate student media operating as open forums for student expression.

• If your student media has faced or faces censorship, please let us know so JEA and other scholastic journalism groups might be able to offer advice or assist. Use this downloadable form to enable us to be more aware of issues your students face.

• If your student media is a designated open forum for student expression or is an open forum for student expression by practice, please let us know. Use this downloadable form so JEA and other scholastic journalism groups can recognize your accomplishments.

• If your student media prior review where someone other than students makes final decisions of content, please let us know. Use this downloadable form so JEA and other scholastic journalism groups can recognize your accomplishments.

Upon reading the story John posted above, my first reaction was one of sadness, probably with a dash of anger thrown in.
I’m not sure why. I think maybe it was because some students who were practicing journalism at a very high level were going to no longer have that chance. Or maybe my initial reaction was that the wrong side had prevailed.
But quickly, that reaction transformed to a reaction of pride.
Knowing that these students were courageous enough to forsake something they obviously hold very dear to their heart for the sake of principles. Former editor Pam Selman’s quote says it all:
“I’d rather practice no journalism than journalism that doesn’t follow with my ethics and what I believe in.”
So while my heart and mind are somewhat saddened that five editors will no longer get to practice – at least under the auspices of their high school – something they love, both heart and mind are buoyed by the fact that are still students around our country who are willing to stand up for those 45 words most of us on this blog hold dear. The fact that these students were able to leave student journalism at Stevenson on their terms, able to believe they have done right by themselves and their readers is no small victory.
As SPRC looks to launch its new Student Partners initiative, this is one of the many types of student we are hoping apply to work with us, because to promote our goals, we need students who hail from all backgrounds and regions of the country. We need students who are passionate about student journalism and the 1st Amendment. That means we want writers and photographers and designers. Copy editors and ad managers. Section editors and staff reporters. Those with experience battling censorship and those without.
Most of all, like the students at Stevenson, we need students who are willing to stand up for what they believe is correct and who are willing to sacrifice and fight for those 45 words we journalists hold most dear.

Five Stevenson High newspaper editors quit Jan. 19, according to a story at Chicago Breaking News.

“I’d rather practice no journalism than journalism that doesn’t follow with my ethics and what I believe in,” ex-editor Pam Selman is quoted.

A district spokesman said administrators were disappointed with the decision and defended the school’s efforts to compromise with student journalists.

More on the situation can be found in a Daily Herald story.

News about the Haiti earthquake dominated the media today, and some scholastic journalists are trying to find ways to report the devastation and loss of life.

Questions they should consider include:

• How can we localize and show readers relevance? That should be among the first concerns. What is the best way to bring the impact of the story to the readers’ community? Has anyone been to Haiti? Have family there? Are local groups involved in relief efforts? Has anyone local survived anything similar? What is the most effective way to report the situation? Commentary on the tragedy? A call to action? Reporting the issues so the reality of the situation becomes the focus? Who will become the best sources? The most credible sources? The most timely sources? Who could be primary sources so reporters are not just rehashing cnn.com or Time magazine? Are there money-raising scams surrounding relief efforts? How can readers recognize and avoid them?

• What legal issues could create problems? How can we avoid using copyrighted images with stories? What would be good resources for images? If the student publication is Web-based, to whom can students link? What are reliable resources? Publications with a subscription to MCT Campus might have a distinct advantage. What about using flash graphics or other multimedia coverage? What is the best way to do the reporting legally?

• Are there ethical considerations about what to show and print? This certainly will become an issue as more commercial media show images of bodies and devastation. What should scholastic media show and why? Assuming you can use such images with permission, will you have discussed the effects of gruesome photos? Why use them? Should your audiences be warned?

We raise these issues not to flash the red light of decision-making restraint but rather to enable the green light of ethical decisions. If your students decide such localized and relevant reporting is justified, we encourage them to do so thoroughly and with compassion.

Whatever steps they take to decide what to publish or broadcast, their decisions need to be rooted in long traditions of journalistic excellence, of publishing a story that affects their community and enables audience involvement.

That’s doing it the right way.

Yesterday was a great day for scholastic journalism.

It was a great day because California Senate Bill 438 passed its Senate Judiciary Committee hearing 5-0 and now goes to Senate Appropriations Committee for consideration.

As you probably know, California Educational Code already protects student expression. SB 438 simply clarifies current law (48907) adding “charter schools” to the protection in the California Student Free Express Law. This bill will make it explicitly clear that all schools, including charter schools, must grant freedom of press without prior review. So yesterday’s hearing was a small victory for scholastic journalism, and that made it a great day.

It wasn’t such a great day last fall when administrators prevented publication of Evolution, the student newspaper at Orange County High School of the Arts, a charter school in Southern California. That’s what sparked this whole thing–and luckily, Senator Leland Yee again came to the rescue in support of scholastic journalism.

It’s a great day when advisers (current and former) attend a hearing for proposed legislation and find themselves supported by professional journalists as well as members of the ACLU and CTA. It’s a great day when legislators stand up for student expression.

It will be an even better day when other states follow suit.

Sarah Nichols, MJE

Check out the Five Freedoms PSA Contest. Entries must be received by February 19, 2010. To be eligible for the early bird prize of $100, students must submit their entries by February 2, 2010.

For more information, visit our Five Freedoms Contest page.