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Constitution Day 2022

JEA’s Scholastic Press Rights Committee hopes to help you and your students celebrate their free speech rights this year. Constitution Day, observed Sept. 17 each year in commemoration of the signing of the United States Constitution, is an excellent time to do it.  We have a quick court cases-review crossword to help you and your…

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Rethinking journalism as it enters a period of transition, including accuracy and truth

Given the extraordinary events of the past three years, and ones now historically burnt into community memory, student journalists’ assignment sheets must now develop new concepts of story value and focus … from context to what local means in coverage With a new school year come new friends, opportunities and responsibilities. Some are memorable, at least…

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What’s old is still new: Hamilton Federalist essay No. 84

Hawaii is the sixteenth state to pass New Voices protection recently. The task to protect all student news media is not new and is unfinished. The signing in Hawaii is a huge success, but there is still a long way to go. Today’s students represent a new generation, but their voices aren’t new – they’re…

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Passion project brings forum policy, student decision making through process, trust

What a private school adviser called a “passion project” for journalism students and herself during the pandemic became a model for other schools, public and private, to work to limit the damage censorship brings to education. What they successfully developed is an example of a process designed so a school has a method to avoid…

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Administrators suggest advisers pull edit as disruptive, negative and not what school wants

Author says censored editorial presents a factual, legal case against policy changes Administrators say the editorial is disruptive, negative toward school administrators and not conducive to the school’s view of what a student-led newspaper should accomplish Press lawyer says editorial is not disruptive to school environment Administrators at Texas High School in Texarkana, Texas, this…

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Why student journalists – now more than ever – need First Amendment freedoms and protections

May 1—Law Day: We watch in horror as the last flickers of a free press in Russia are snuffed out and journalists are detained and threatened, including 14 who were arrested for covering anti-war protests. Four Russian student journalists were sentenced April 12 to two years of correctional labor for questioning whether it was right for teachers to discourage students from…

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Supporting advisers, celebrating successes on Student Press Freedom Day

Today is Student Press Freedom Day, a national day of action when student journalists in the United States raise awareness of the challenges they face, celebrate their contributions to their schools and communities, and take actions to protect and restore their First Amendment freedoms. As JEA’s scholastic press rights director, I speak with many people…

‘Passion project’ brings forum policy, student decision making through process, trust

What a private school adviser called a “passion project” for journalism students and herself during the pandemic became a model for other schools, public and private, to work to limit the damage censorship brings to education. What they successfully developed is an example of a process designed so a school has a method to avoid…

Insights

Expand coverage of issues while celebrating Student Press Freedom Day, SJW this week

Hopefully, scholastic journalism will be a week of celebration of student achievements and planned educational activities for those in various local communities. If you haven’t already engaged your communities about how national issues affect local stories, this week would be a good time to create more awareness of important local issues, some of which might…

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Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School Policy Statement of Policy on Student Media

The Lion’s Tale – Press Rights Protocol I. Introduction/Statement of Policy Freedom of expression and press freedom are fundamental values in a democratic society. As an educational institution committed to preparing engaged and responsible citizens, the Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School believes in teaching students these values, both by lesson and by example.  CESJDS…

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Turn that mic back on! Student Journalists and Self-censorship

Having a principal censor a student media article is bad, but there’s something worse. It may start with an administrator’s polite suggestions to reporters not to “make the school look bad.” It may involve only slightly veiled threats about not being about to write an editor’s college recommendation letters. Or it may just be the…

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The threat of self-censorship: Often intangible, but still important to address

As scholastic journalism advisers, prevention of overt censorship from school administration is at the forefront of our fight for scholastic press rights  – and should be.  But in a scholastic setting, self-censorship is also a problem, arguably even more common than direct censorship. Whether caused by the chilling effects of previous censorship, by the pressure of prior review…

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