The Wisconsin Senate’s Committee on Universities and Revenue will hold a public hearing Tuesday, Dec. 5, on a bill that would offer protection to many of the state’s student journalists and student media advisers.
The hearing will start at 9:30 a.m. central Dec. 5 at the Wisconsin State Capitol Building in Madison. It follows the Wisconsin Assembly’s unanimous approval of a similar bill in November.
SB 571, based on the Student Press Law Center’s model bill, ensures that Wisconsin’s public sixth grade through college student journalists determine the content of student media and cannot be censored except in certain rare circumstances. The legislation also prevents student media advisers from facing retaliation when they refuse to unlawfully restrict their students’ rights.
Student advocate Simon Mehring and SPLC Executive Director Gary Green joined Wisconsin Public Radio’s Morning Show on Monday to discuss the importance of the bill.
Mehring said that he’s heard many stories of student journalists being censored across Wisconsin, including coverage that critiqued their school’s sexual education programs or that investigated bacteria levels in water fountains.
“These may not seem like big, huge issues to the majority of people,” Mehring said. “But for students who sometimes see student journalism as their only form of open dialogue and to understand what is going on in their local high school community, these censorship cases really matter.”
SPLC also plans to be in Madison to provide testimony, alongside Mehring and other advocates.
Matthew Smith, president of the Wisconsin Journalism Education Association, shared the following ways that students, advisers and other supporters in Wisconsin can help:
EMAIL SENATORS STATEMENTS OF SUPPORT FOR THE BILL
Legislators will not feel the need to continue moving this bill forward if they do not feel pressured to do so. New Voices laws clarify the rules for students, teachers and school officials rather than leaving speech rights vague and open to misinterpretation and fear. Freedom of speech for student publications creates citizens who are experienced problem-solvers, who gain experience using their voices for the right reasons and in the right ways, and it does this without limiting a school’s ability to prohibit illegal or harmful speech. Senators need to hear messages along these lines from many sources, especially from students. They are the ones most impacted by the current lack of such legislation. The following senators would be the most important for us or our students to reach out to:
– Committee Chair Sen. Rob Hutton: Sen.Hutton@legis.wisconsin.gov
– Committee Vice-Chair Sen. Jesse James: Sen.James@legis.wisconsin.gov
– Bill Sponsor Sen. Rachael Cabral-Guevara: Sen.Cabral-Guevara@legis.wisconsin.gov
– Senate President Sen. Chris Kapenga: Sen.Kapenga@legis.wisconsin.gov
– Majority Leader Sen. Devin LeMahieu: Sen.LeMahieu@legis.wisconsin.gov
ATTEND OR WATCH THE HEARING
If you or other supporters are able to attend the hearing on Tuesday, that would be amazing! Again, it starts at 9:30 a.m. in Room 411 South of the Wisconsin State Capitol Building in Madison. You should also be able to watch the hearing live at Wisconsin Eye. You may need to search for the correct committee or use the “Schedule” tab to find the correct hearing. After the hearing is over you may also watch through the full recording on the same site. The public hearing from the assembly committee in October is still available, as is the discussion and unanimous vote from the full Assembly (it starts at about 1:24:00 and goes until 1:38:30).
CONTINUE HAVING CONVERSATIONS AND SPREADING THE WORD
If you haven’t had conversations about New Voices laws with your students (or haven’t in awhile), this is an excellent hook for having those conversations now. What do New Voices laws do? Why are they important? What protections or possible restrictions do you have at your school now, and where are these spelled out? How do they compare to those at schools and states nearby? Why are speech rights for student publications important in the first place? These questions can be engaging and vital for student journalists. The same may also be true of other educators and community members. Share this message with all who may be interested and impacted. They deserve to know what is happening and to be given a chance to show their support as well!
For class reading and discussion, this story from The Capital Times in October lays out some background and doubles as an example of the power students have to enact change by highlighting Stoughton student journalist Simon Mehring, who spearheaded the current New Voices effort.
STAY CONNECTED AND UP-TO-DATE
The best way to stay on top of what is happening is to follow @newvoiceswisconsin on Instagram. You can also send any comments or questions to Newvoiceswisconsin@gmail.com