The New Voices movement continued its impressive momentum in 2024, with Minnesota becoming the fourth state in less than four years to adopt student press freedom protections.
In addition, one chamber of the Wisconsin legislature unanimously passed New Voices legislation, and bills were also introduced in Arizona, Kentucky, Missouri, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. In those states and others, advocates spoke with legislators, testified in hearings, organized lobby days, wrote op-eds and grew support that they hope to build on for next year.
Meanwhile, advocates in states with existing New Voices laws educated stakeholders on the law and ensured school districts adopt student media policies consistent with the new legal protections for student journalists.
With most states’ legislative sessions complete for this year, the Student Press Law Center asked several advocates to reflect on their experiences in 2024. In a series of posts linked below, they share their accomplishments and their advice for others pushing for New Voices legislation.
Minnesota
After about a decade of persistent advocacy, Minnesota became the 18th New Voices state when Gov. Tim Walz officially signed SF 3567, an education omnibus bill, into law on May 17. The legislation protects public school student journalists in grades sixth through 12 from censorship and their advisers from professional retaliation for refusing to censor their students.
New Voices passed thanks largely to student-driven efforts, with support from long-time bill sponsor Rep. Cheryl Youakim, the Minnesota High School Press Association, SPLC and others.
Advocates celebrate the success, but they said there is also still more work to do. The law does not yet include protections for yearbook publications — the only New Voices law in the country to exclude them — and others have also argued for the law to extend to private schools and college students as well.
Wisconsin
Following a year of strong advocacy, Wisconsin also had a solid chance of becoming the next New Voices state.
AB 551 passed unanimously through the State Assembly in a 98-0 vote in November, and the governor expressed his support. The bill also received quite a bit of media attention. Unfortunately, after delays and some amendments — which SPLC had concerns about, including one that would require parental permission for students to join a publication — were introduced, it never received a hearing in the Senate committee.
Advocates look forward to building on that success in the next legislative session.
Missouri
Missouri’s New Voices legislation passed out of its Senate committee after advocates testified in support, but the bill ultimately died before a vote on the Senate floor for the ninth consecutive year. Filibusters significantly slowed the legislature down, and New Voices was lost in a long list of to-dos.
Advocates aim to work on better educating lawmakers on the importance and nonpartisan nature of New Voices ahead of the next session.
Nebraska
New Voices legislation was re-introduced in Nebraska this year after making it out of committee in 2021. Throughout 2024, student journalists wrote opinion pieces, spoke with legislators and testified in support of the bill. However, New Voices failed to advance this time: the unicameral legislature’s judiciary committee was split in a 4-4 vote along party lines.
New York
Despite months of advocacy, significant support and New Voices New York’s first Legislative Briefing, the New Voices bills failed to move out of their respective committees once again this year. Public hearings are rare in the New York legislature, so advocates have turned to other ways to reach their representatives. The legislature’s short sessions and overall focus on other priorities continues to stall the bill, but advocates look to build on their support for next year.
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania advocates achieved a new milestone with their first committee hearing on a New Voices bill in April. The House committee has not yet voted on the bill, but the state’s legislature is in session through November 30. Advocates celebrate the milestone and hope to continue the momentum.
Implementing New Voices in Hawaii and West Virginia
Advocates know their work doesn’t stop at passing state-wide legislation. For New Voices to be effective, students must know about their rights and school districts need to adopt and apply student media policies reflecting these newly acquired student press freedoms.
Hawaii’s New Voices law passed in May 2022, and advocates have worked ever since to ensure the state Board of Education revised its student media policy to align with the law. Thanks to the unrelenting efforts of adviser Cindy Reves and others, the state Board of Education recently adopted an updated policy, exactly two years to the day after New Voices became law.
Another recent New Voices state, West Virginia, signed student press freedoms into law in March of 2023. The law took three consecutive years of strong advocacy, aided by SPLC, but advocates say its passage has begun to reinvigorate student media in the state.
The West Virginia Journalism Education Association and SPLC are monitoring the status of districts adopting local policies. There’s still work to be done: only six of the 55 West Virginia counties currently have policies adhering to New Voices legislation so far.
About New Voices
New Voices is a student-led, nonpartisan, grassroots movement to protect student press freedom through state laws. These laws counteract the impact of the 1988 Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier Supreme Court decision, which created a First Amendment carve-out for student journalists and permitted administrators broad discretion to censor them. New Voices laws restore a standard where student editors make editorial decisions except in narrow and clearly defined circumstances.
The Student Press Law Center supports and connects more than a dozen student-led New Voices coalitions across the country. As the nation’s leading advocate for student press freedom, it also frequently provides expert testimony on the need for such legislation.
You can get involved or learn more about New Voices by emailing newvoices@splc.org.