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
Courage in journalism
As Frank LoMonte, director of the Student Press Law Center, was announcing the Courage in Journalism Award to two young men from Pennsylvania, I realized that they stood there because their adviser had taught them well about the First Amendment. These young men, Henry Rome (Journalism Education Association’s national Student Journalist of the Year for…
Open forums for student expression? Let us recognize you
If you and your students attended the JEA/NSPA convention this past week in DC, you are aware of the courageous fight some teachers and advisers wage against censorship. In some cases they kept their student media operating as designated forums for student expression or as practicing forums for student expression. Others still continue to fight…
DC: Truly inspiring
After the past couple of months of news on this blog, it would be easy to be despondent. Student work being censored for laughable reasons. Advisers having their authority usurped. Creativity being stifled. As it always does, the JEA/NSPA national convention, has energized me. Sitting in the SPRC panel on Saturday, we had the good…
And the definition for ‘responsible’ is…
The JEAHELP list had a post last week that included a statement the Scholastic Press Rights Commission has been ready to address from more than a year. It came in a message from Gloria Olman, retired adviser and former Dow Jones Newspaper Fund High School Journalism Teacher of the Year. Olman was trying to help…
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.