This is one in a series of posts reflecting on New Voices accomplishments and lessons learned in 2024. Other posts in this series can be found here.
After months of advocacy in New York — including phone banking, letter-writing and sharing real-life experiences through the state coalition’s first-ever legislative briefing — New Voices supporters now look to 2025 with valuable lessons learned and progress made toward student press freedom in the Empire State.
New Voices bills A 1345, sponsored by Rep. Donna Lupardo, and S 647, sponsored by Sen. Brian Kavanagh, were assigned to the education committees but did not receive any action before the legislative session ended in June. Through conversations with lawmakers, it was made clear that advocates need to find more supporters among New York superintendents and principals to overcome concerns about handing editorial control to student journalists — concerns that haven’t borne out in the 18 states currently with New Voices laws.
At a virtual legislative briefing Feb. 20, advocates made the case for why the state’s student media needed stronger protection against censorship. Key speakers included student journalists Liza Greenberg, Khush Wadhwa, Adelaide Barlow and Saniya Bhagwat, along with advisers Michael Simons and Katina Paron and the Student Press Law Center’s Grayson Marlow and Jonathan Gaston-Falk.
For Liza, her school administration’s lack of support for student media has resulted in school news simply not being reported. Students and parents have been left in the dark, and student journalists have been frustrated with restrictions on providing them with information. Liza explained that, instead of creating an environment of safety and learning, these restrictions have created an atmosphere of distrust and confusion.
Adelaide said that reporting and writing articles as a student journalist, as well as advocating for New Voices, has helped shape her critical thinking and communication skills, all traits that would develop further if New York passes New Voices legislation.
While her school administrators do not engage in censorship or prior review, Adelaide recognizes that student journalists in other schools aren’t always as lucky. In a recent op-ed in The Hechinger Report she wrote, “The rules that student journalists operate under in New York State vary by district — the threat of censorship is often based on the sensitivities of school administrators, the power of the superintendent and the seniority of the school’s journalism adviser.
“Freedom of speech cannot be so subjective. Restricting student press freedom is the first step toward limiting journalist inquiry and will erode our democracy.”
Khush offered a different perspective, working as an editor-in-chief of an independent newspaper that operates under similar guidelines that the bill would provide. Khush said this experience demonstrates that a free student press results in better communication between school administrators and students, allowing for more perspectives to be highlighted and issues to be resolved.
Ultimately, the New York Legislature focused on other priorities this year, but advocates’ significant efforts convinced more lawmakers to support the bills. With few public hearings in the legislature, New York advocates have to find other ways to reach their legislators. The first-ever legislative briefing proved that there are still strong supporters of student press freedom to be found in the New York legislature. That support will serve as a strong foundation for next year as advocates work to find support among their school administrators.
Learn more about New Voices here.