Definitions of prior review/prior restrant for scholastic journalism
The JEA board passed this definition 8-5 on April 15, 2010
Prior review occurs when anyone not on the publication/media staff requires that he or she be allowed to read, view or approve student material before distribution, airing or publication.
Prior restraint occurs when someone not on the publication/media staff requires pre-distribution changes to or removal of student media content.
Prior review itself is a form of prior restraint. It inevitably leads the reviewer to censor and and student journalists to self-censor in an effort to assure approval.
An officially designated adviser, when working with students and offering suggestions for improvement as part of the coaching and learning process, who reads or views student media before publication is not engaged in prior review.
However, when an adviser requires pre-distribution changes over the objections of student editors, his/her actions then become prior restraint.
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[…] On my staff, we assure proof of interviews (written, signed, recorded, or physical proof of email or text message), to prevent the publishing of legally-sensitive material that could put us under the dreaded curse phrase of prior review. […]
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