Press Rights
JEA stands firmly behind student journalists’ press freedom. Where journalism students delve into the impact of such events as the invasion of the Capitol Jan. 6 and issues stemming from it, they create community engagement and understanding of journalistic responsibility, roles and values. Where the same students make final decisions of content without prior review and restraint, democracy’s ideals flourish and expand. We denounce all efforts to stifle student journalists, and we stand in solidarity with advisers who support them.
Constitution Day is Sept. 17
2025 Theme: Power to the People
The Scholastic Press Rights Committee has put together a set of activities and materials around the 2025 theme "Power to the People" for teachers to use in their classrooms this Constitution Day, Sept. 17. They range from full lesson plans to quick activities and ways to promote Constitution Day in your school community.
Press Rights Quick Links
Prior Review | Law-Ethics Manual | Key Cases | What Are Ethics | Tools of Truth
He called it ‘accidental plagiarism’
Gerald Posner’s resignation from The Daily Beast offers a good lesson about plagiarism. What happens when a journalist has LOTS and LOTS of notes and a tight deadline? Is it possible to forget which words are someone else’s and which are yours? More details and links about this appear on “A lesson in ‘accidental plagiarism’”…
Stopping prior review one fight at a time
Marie Miller, publications adviser in Fauquier County, Virginia, posted this to the JEA listserv today. With censorship and prior review constantly in the news, we thought her points should be repeated to show prior review can be prevented short of court battles. Information about Miller’s situation can be found on the SPLC site and earlier…
Establishing protocol terminology
How do you handle disagreement with administrators, especially if prior review or restraint are involved? One way might be to establish a protocol, a process of discussing the situation with all stakeholders. An early step in developing that a meaningful processw is to agree on definitions. We think the following terms need to be defined,…
Join the discussion over protocols for scholastic media
Join the discussion over Twitter and the Five Freedoms Network On February 8-9, 2010, the McCormick Freedom Project and the Illinois Press Foundation will convene a group of crucial stakeholders from across the state and country with the goal of creating a protocol that will serve as a national model for scholastic journalism. The conference…
Need help with a censorship issue? You found it.
If you are a JEA member or students of a JEA member who need assistance concerning censorship issues, use the panic button below to generate an online form to explain your situation. This will go to a Scholastic Press Rights Committee member who will assist you quickly and notify others in your state so they can offer assistance. This outreach capability is a direct result of JEA’s Adviser Assistance Program and is designed to combat censorship issues advisers and students might face.