Turns Out High School Kids Can Declare their Paper a Public Forum … Sort of
My last post questioned whether a public high school paper’s staff could simply make up its own mind and declare its paper a public forum and be done with it.
Tada! Instant public forum status and a free-er (if that’s a word) level of free expression.
But I mused that the such an endeavor was less then honest since Hazelwood established the the principal was, in essence, the publisher of the paper. So I posed the question to SPLC and Frank Lamonte, the executive director of the Student Press Law Center, got back to me. Here’s what he wrote:
We aren’t sure whether “self declared” public forum status will or will not hold up in court - it’s never been tested. The theory goes that, if the school tolerates that declaration for many years and operates in a manner consistent with being a forum, then a paper can become a forum by practice.
I feel pretty certain that if there is a contrary written policy on the books, the written policy will trump that declaration because, as you say, the school board is the policymaker for the district. So “forum by declaration” status would work only where the policy is silent, which is true in many districts. If you are in such a district, we certainly don’t think it is a bad idea to try this, especially if you have a decent relationship with the higher-ups. I would NOT attempt it while in the midst of a controversy.
His response makes sense, actually. If a paper has been operating as a forum by gathering letters to the editor and allowing guest columnists to submit articles from outside of the class, then why not codify the practice with an addition to the banner. I would take heed of his advise, however, to refrain from doing this if there is currently an issue of censorship in the air. This would be looked upon as less a move toward free speech and more an end run around an authority.
Can High School Kids Just Declare Their Paper a Public Forum?
Filed under: Free Speech, Issues in Journalism, Uncategorized
I just came back from the Columbia Scholastic Press Association’s 2010 Spring Convention. I went to one session given by an adviser for an excellent Crown Award winning newspaper, and she said that her staff had a few years prior declared its paper a public forum.
Her words got me to thinking about an essential question: Can a curricular newspaper simply declare itself a public forum?
A Little History
The Supreme Court in Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeirer in 1988 determined that if a newspaper operated within the school day and was linked to a classroom, the paper or drama production or yearbook was under the jurisdiction of the principal, the “chief” teacher of the school. This is why principals can look at advanced copies of student speech under “prior review.”
Hazelwood reduced the public forum powers students and their papers were given under Tinker v. Des Moines, 1969, and essentially made papers limited forums, open to a principal’s whims over what he or she felt was in keeping with the purpose of the school.
But Hazelwood case does say that if the paper has been deemed “by policy or by practice” to be a public forum, then the paper enjoys more freedom. And there’s the issue: “Has been deemed” is passive voice. Who is allowed to deem a curricular paper a public forum?
The Student Press Law Center urges students to be proactive and petition boards of education and principals directly to gather their support in making the paper a forum. But I must admit that I, and some of my past editors, have thought about slipping the words “a public forum” in the masthead of the paper. Who would be the wiser? After a couple of years, if a question arose, the students could say the paper has always been a forum and simply point to back issues as support.
My Take
Slipping words into a page or into a curriculum alone seems, well, dishonest. I agree with the take SPLC has on the issue. Go to administration and work with them together to improve the paper. Everyone hates credit card companies, banks, business contracts and advertisements that try to hide the truth in fine print. Quietly saying one is a forum seems wrong.
But I have asked SPLC about the legality declaring ones paper a public forum and if such an action would stick after a few years of surreptitious forum status. I’ll tell you what they say.
Naugtuck Students Have Their Side Heard
Filed under: Free Speech, Issues in Journalism, Uncategorized
Students have strong vies on a $2 million dollar budget gap.
I love when students decide to speak out.
Naugatuck is embroiled in tough budget times. The superintendent and his BOE just announced their plan to cut 60 teachers and sports programs in order to close a $2 million budget gap. The mayor as asked for the resignation of the superintendent and the head of the BOE. Ouch!
Naturally, when students see teachers and coaches being cut, and their town in turmoil, students get upset and angry, and they speak out. The Nagatuck High School online newspaper the Greyhound went around school and sampled student opinion on the super’s plan.
Warms my heart to think of journalists grabbing a cameras, pointing at their public and getting them to speak about issues affecting them directly. I looked at the front page of Naugatuck High School’s website and in their mission statement they focus on the goal of producing students who become “problem solvers.” Watch the just part of the video and you’ll see that journalism helps produce students who are problem solvers.
And it chills my heart when some might think of the video as a problem creator. It has come to my attention (notice the passive voice) that some have issues with the video. And as I write these words, I am nervous for the jobs of the very people who help students become problem solvers.
What people tend to do is to pressure media advisers to control the students. They shoot the messengers because they can. They talk about journalism and scholastic media outlets as being entities that need to be fair, that should serve the public as information services for the school, that should be balanced and responsible, and produce a product that shows the best side of the school and students.
In America, the Fourth State is also charged with the job of being where public opinion is heard. It’s not government’s job to support or promote Glenn Beck or Bill Moyers. It’s the government’s job to get out of their way so we can hear and watch the news and opinion.
I agree with scholastic media being informational and objective, but these can be code words for censorship. The First Amendment should protect these students from government interference in their journalism. When students see the government discussing cutting their programs and teachers, it is their right–actually if you follow Thomas Jefferson’s lead–it is their duty to remain vigilant and join the discussion.
But just when the school and town should be praising students for their involvement and citizenship, I fear some want to shut them down.
Where is the Support from Schools of Journalism?
The recent entry of Connecticut’s Free Speech Statute, a bill designed to give students more freedom to express themselves, has me excited that this state might take a progressive approach to student speech and enact a law that protects student thought.
H.B.1056, which was referred to the Education Committee on April 29, could mean the return Connecticut high schools to the Tinker standard for judging student speech. This basically means that as long as student speech does not invade privacy, is not vulgar or obscene, and does not create a material disruption of the school day, then the speech can not be censored by administration. Read more
Free Speech Statute Gets Press at the Student Press Law Center
“Inklings” has been a supporter of the Student Press Law Center for many, many years.
This group of lawyers in Alexandria, V.A. has been incredibly helpful to Staples’ school paper and other papers and journalists across the country.
SPLC is unique. It’s mission is to provide legal guidance for scholastic journalists at the high school and college level. The organization ends up being a valued front-line defender of student expression–champions of the First Amendment in a post Hazelwood world.
So imagine the surprise when the SPLC’s terrific newsletter and website featured the nutmeg state in its recent issue. The article, “Conn. Senate Considers Anti-Hazelwood Bill,” details the effort by the Connecticut Chapter of he ACLU and some concerned state representatives to return Connecticut to a Tinker standard for free expression. Read more
Free Speech Statute Would Restore Student First Amendment Rights
The Judiciary Committee of the Connecticut legislature held hearings on March 6 regarding a student free speech proposal aimed at restoring First Amendment rights to Connecticut students.
Proposal S.B.1056 was drafted by Martin Margulies, a law professor at Quinnipiac University and a longtime member of the Center for First Amendment rights, and Sen. Gary Labeau, D-East Hartford, a retired school teacher. Both men were troubled by the Avery Doniger case of May, 2008, in which Doniger, a senior at Lewis Mills High School in Burlington, Conn., was removed from her position as class secretary for calling the principal a “douche bag” on a social networking site. Doniger sued, saying that her First Amendment right to free speech had been violated, but the court supported the principal. Read more
Where Might School Papers Fit into ‘Hyperlocal’ Reporting?
‘Hyperlocal’ reporting could be one model for journalism as the field confronts the web 2.0.
The way hyperlocal works is that instead of newspapers covering the local news, websites pull together local blogs that cover politics, news, crime and cultural events for the new news consumer.
The idea has some merit and in many ways is beginning to happen already. Users of the Internet already have lists of favorite sites that they keep in various menus. The idea of a website coming through area blogs for readers in a more systematic and user friendly version might go far.
The “New York Times” addresses this in “‘Hyperlocal’ Web Sites Deliver News Without Newspapers” by Claire Cain Miller. The article discusses the efforts of innovators like Adrian Holovaty, whose site Everyblock, pulls together information culled from blogs in 11 major cities.
One concern about hyperlocal is that you lose expert reporters and are instead forced to rely on untrained bloggers for information. The limits of hyperlocal and the merits of such a system raise numerous questions for discussions: Isn’t hyperlocal news gathering just a return to an earlier ere of journalism in which most material was opinion with facts more or less woven in? Are readers intelligent enough to understand the limits of the information they are reading? Is the loss of an expert beat reporter the gain of new voice and fresh perspective? Read more
Public vs. Private: Which Schools Have More Freedom?
This is a questions that comes up every semester in the Intro to Journalism classes at Staples High School, and it’s a question that “Journalism Today,” the textbook for the Staples High School’s journalism classes, addresses directly.
According to the book–written in 2000–public schools enjoy more freedom because they are institutions that exist because they are tax-payer supported and, therefore, enjoy greater protection under various state and federal constitutions. In short, because a principal or an adviser is a government employee, the First Amendment has more bite.
Hazelwood and the trump card that that famous court case seems to give administrators and advisers aside, it does make sense that public schools would have more protection under the First Amendment. Private schools exist because parents spend money to send their children to the school, and therefore since the school is private, the school can exercise more control.
Private schools can tell a student more easily what to where and what books to read. The school can have a denominational affiliation, where as a public school cannot. It follows that the head of the school can exercise great control over its publications.
But maybe what we believe about public school freedom and private school control isn’t so true. Read more
An Idea About Anonymous Sources
untitled-1Clark Hoyt, the “New York Times” public editor posted some of the recent letters to the editor that he’s received regarding columns. One caught my eye, and the letter regards the pernicious but sometime necessary use of anonymous sources. The letter comes from Mike Feinsilber, an AP writing coach in Washington, in response to Hoyt’s “No Comment. But You Didn’t Hear It From Me” (March 29). Mr. Feinsilber writes:
I’m the part-time writing coach at the Washington bureau of The Associated Press. I share your concern about the ubiquity of quotes from anonymous sources. One way to curtail their use is to insist that reporters paraphrase what they use from sources who demand anonymity. If the source’s quote contains real information, paraphrasing it won’t be difficult; reporters do that all the time. But if the quote is propaganda, no good reporter would have an easy time putting it in his own words. Read more
Polls
How involved is your school admnistration in the content of your journalism?
- They are not. It's hands off at my school. (0.0%, 0 Votes)
- A little. They ask to see articles from time to time. (0.0%, 0 Votes)
- Quite a bit. We submit the paper frequently for the principal's approval. (0.0%, 0 Votes)
- All the time. We always sumbit for prior review and are censored frequenlty. (0.0%, 0 Votes)
Total Voters: 0
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