The Student Press Law I: Law and Ethics

The Student Press Law I: Law and Ethics

First, the good news...

As of 1983, court decisions had established that students do not lose their basic constitutional right to free expression merely because they attend school.

Now, the bad news…

School administrators are allowed to enact guidance and control over the actions of students because school administrators must ensure that student actions, including certain forms of speech, do not disrupt the educational environment.
In a 1969 Supreme Court decision, Tinker vs. Des Moines, the Court said students may express their opinion on campus if they do so without interfering with the requirements of discipline and without colliding with the rights of others.
In a 1970 court decision in Connecticut, Eisner vs. Stanford, student newspapers were deemed valuable educational tools and worthy forms of student expression. BUT the 1969 Supreme Court decision still takes precedence. And it’s worded so vaguely that many student newspaper stories could be considered “disruptive” to the rights of others.
School boards, superintendents, principals, and newspaper advisers have the right and responsibility to supervise student newspapers’ organization and management. (These administrators and faculty members have a great deal of control because they control the most important part of a newspaper’s management – the money.)
Many courts across the country have stated that it’s a newspaper adviser’s responsibility to prevent the publication of material that is libelous, obscene, or clearly disruptive to the school environment.
Administrators also can limit or prohibit the distribution of school newspapers if the distribution is deemed a significant interference to the school’s educational environment.

So, what’s the point of a school newspaper? It’s almost the same as that of a for-profit, privately owned newspaper.

School newspapers must serve the entire school community – students, faculty, administrators, staff, and parents. School newspapers also must serve the needs of its advertisers, if it uses advertising to generate money.
Student journalists are interpreters for their school community. They present school life and student thought to the public through a school newspaper.
With this in mind, school newspapers can meet community expectations and standards and serve the interests of the students at the same time.
School newspapers also can act as a means to improve the school environment, as a facilitator for relations between students, and as a forum for student opinion.

The Student Press Law II: Serving the School Community

As you learned during the previous class, a student newspaper doesn’t enjoy complete freedom of the press. There are limitations on what a school newspaper can print, but there are opportunities within these limitations to create a high-quality, valuable newspaper.

Meeting community expectations

Hey, guess who pays for this school? And every other public school in the country? Taxpayers, that’s who. And taxpayers who live in the school’s immediate community, from your parents to the guy who runs the local convenience store, expect the school to provide the best education it can for the money it’s given. The school board is elected by taxpayers, and school board members expect the school – and its newspaper – to follow community standards.
Therefore, school newspapers have an obligation to be as fair as possible and to be as complete as possible. This doesn’t mean that a school newspaper can’t raise questions about policies, guidelines, rules, etc. It means the newspaper has a right and a responsibility to handle these situations with delicacy and tact.

Improving relations between students and the community

In some cases, the relationship between the local school’s student body and the community may be poor or worse. A school newspaper can take a leading role in improving student/community relations by providing a voice for the student body. And the newspaper also can provide a window for students into the local community. Understanding cuts both ways, and it’s essential for compromises to be established that benefit and satisfy both the community and the students.

Providing a forum for student opinions

Every student has a right to his or her opinion. And a school newspaper should strive to present as many different opinions as possible in order to serve the school community.

Editorial policy

All school newspapers should establish an editorial policy, which is a set of guidelines describing how the newspaper intends to handle sensitive or controversial issues, letters to the editor, and corrections and clarifications. The editorial policy also should contain guidelines describing the mission of the school newspaper and how it intends to fulfill its mission.

Once you have made it through all the hurdles hindering publication of a student newspaper you must confront the final challenge – establishing the content of your student newspaper.

The editorial staff will decide the basic content of a school newspaper, but the staff’s decision should be based on the idea that the school newspaper must serve the needs of its readers and its advertisers. If the newspaper fails to interest its readers and provide a service to its advertisers, it’s not a newspaper – it’s a joke.

Student Press Law Quiz

Name: ______Date: ______

Select the most appropriate answers to the following questions.

(A.) Eisner v. Stanford (B.) Tinker v. Des Moines (C.)Hazlewood v. Kuhlmeier (D.) Prior restraint (E.) Publisher (F.) Adviser (G.) Editor (H.) Iowa (I.) Self-censorship

_____ 1. Censoring material by administration before it goes to press.

_____ 2. Supreme Court case in 1969 that expanded students’ free speech rights.

_____ 3. The role of the principal in relation to a student newspaper staff.

_____ 4. The first state to pass a law protecting student press rights. It followed the Hazlewood decision. _____ 5. Poorly worded federal court decision in 1970 that gave administrators room to restrict students’ free speech rights.

_____ 6. Supreme Court case in 1988 that restricted students’ free speech rights in student newspapers.

7. Describe the events leading to the Tinker v. Des Moines case and the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case. Explain how the ruling affected students’ free speech rights.

8. Describe the events leading to the Hazlewood v. Kuhlmeier case and the Supreme Court’s ruling in the case. Explain how the ruling affected students’ free speech rights.

9. List three student newspaper story ideas that could be affected by the Hazlewood decision.

10. Does our state have a law that protects student journalists, or does Hazlewood apply in our state?