About JEASPRC

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Scholastic Press Rights Commission

Educate • Advocate • Empower

  • Educate the various communities scholastic media impacts so each understands the rights and responsibilities of student journalists and appreciates the need to follow professional legal standards and ethical guidelines.
  • Advocate for teachers/advisers so they can train and coach and for students so they apply the critical thinking and content skills they are learning.
  • Empower student journalists to use their voices and find their role in their schools, their communities and their democratic society.

To do all of the various tasks outlined on the commission duties list on a systematic basis, we need to have people ready/willing to:

  • Maintain active opposition to censorship and prior review of scholastic media;
  • Keep in close contact with the Student Press Law Center and other organizations concerned with student and adviser freedom of expression;
  • Monitor scholastic media legal and ethical issues, cases, positions and incidents across the country;
  • Keep students, administrators and advisers regularly informed of current legal situations, opinions and trends
  • Assist advisers and students who face censorship issues offering support as needed;
  • Offer educational materials and activities to advisers, administrators and students through a press rights Web page and other multimedia like Facebook Twitter;
  • Recommend policies, positions and actions to JEA, its members and other educational groups on scholastic media law and ethics;
  • Recognize and celebrate student success achieved by practicing free expression
  • Present sessions at conventions, seminars and workshops locally and nationally;
  • Submit articles to professional journals on JEA’s positions on the rights and responsibilities of scholastic media
  • Initiate and maintain channels of information and communication with all educational groups;
  • Support, through actions and words, the free expression rights of all groups.

Educate

  • Teach and suggest sessions at local/state/national conventions
  • Create and update teaching and activities for posting to commission Web site, print publications
  • Create and update teaching and activities for print publications like C:JET, administrator magazines
  • Maintain regular communication on issues using commission Facebook, Twitter, blog and other media
  • Conduct research to monitor student expression and to enhance understanding of it
  • Create and present media events about scholastic media rights and responsibility
  • Prepare publicity of and about commission activities and issues updates; preparation and communication of Crisis Communication Plan for commission

Advocate

  • Design and coordinate projects like March on DC and active intervention with education groups around the country (including specific projects like research to ID state’s legislators and make it available to members. Deadline: Aug. 1)
  • Publish articles on First Amendment issues
  • Create and maintain outreach with students, advisers, administrators and communities through information and investigation
  • Demonstrate the importance of the concept of the tenets of responsible journalism in student media content and as a weapon against censorship
  • Protect the rights and responsibilities for those students expressing themselves outside formal scholastic media and the school environment
  • Demonstrate the importance of journalistic training for teachers, advisers
  • Enhance the rights and protections of students using all scholastic media
  • Travel to speak or provide information, as requested
  • Work with administrative groups to provide journalism legal and ethical background

Empower

  • Maintain regular contact with state directors on free expression issues to help with “early warning” and educational response
  • Maintain outreach with students, advisers, administrators and communities
  • Recognize/celebrate excellence in scholastic journalism
  • Work with those within and outside of scholastic media groups in developing and enhancing laws and protections for scholastic expression
  • Seek grants and funding for commission and student expression activity\
  • Work with other groups seeking to pass legislation passing free expression laws for students and adviser protection
  • Work with civic education and social studies groups to demonstrate the importance of free student expression
  • Develop common standards for journalism education
  • Expand student rights to build a base for adviser protection
  • Development of a “Best Practices” kit for presenting legal and ethical value of free student expression

JOHN BOWEN – COMMISSION CHAIR

Commission members:
Karen Barrett
Jane Blystone
Candace Perkins Bowen
Merle Dieleman
Vince DeMiero
Tim Dorway
Dr. Tom Eveslage
Carrie Faust
Karen Flowers
Tom Gayda
Mark Goodman
H.L. Hall
Dick Johns
Lori Keekley
Janet McKinney
Glenn Morehouse Olson

Sarah Nichols
Matt Schott
Tracy Sena
Becky Sipos
Diane Smith
Nancy Smith
Elisha Strecker
Randy Swikle
John Tagliareni
Fern Valentine