The 2023-24 school year was one of the most active we’ve experienced at the Student Press Law Center. Student journalists at all levels and from across the country reached out to us for help in covering the Israel-Hamas war and the historic campus protests (and resulting police crackdowns) the war sparked.
This new school year — and this fall in particular, given the upcoming election — looks like it could be another doozy. In addition to the information and suggestions included in our Covering Protests Guide, we recommend that student journalists:
1. Encourage administrators to update emergency response plans
Before the news cycle heats up, we urge student media organizations to work with administration and campus law enforcement to add student media exceptions to any campus rules regarding protests, lockdowns or other emergency situations. Such exceptions should allow for meaningful and safe coverage of the news events, including ensuring that campus police and cooperating law enforcement agencies are trained to identify journalists and provide them reasonable access. Any lockdown plans should also exclude or make accommodations for student newsrooms or studios.
Student journalists, like their professional counterparts, perform an essential service in times of crisis and should be supported in their efforts to gather and report news on issues of concern in the community.
To assist you in opening communication channels with administration, the Freedom of the Press Foundation summarizes much of the legal framework in this letter to various universities. You may want to share it with key campus officials or use it as a template for your own. The letter reminds campus officials of the important — and legally protected — role of news media in covering campus news events.
2. Establish back-up publication/broadcast plans
We heard from a few student media organizations that they had trouble getting into their newsrooms or broadcast facilities during campus lockdowns. Whether or not you have an exemption in the lockdown procedures, now is the time to create back-up plans with alternative ways of getting important, timely information to your audience from remote locations should access to your normal facilities be blocked.
You should also identify who has decision-making authority over your building and have their contact information readily available, in case you need to make your case for regaining access quickly.
3. Identify local criminal defense attorneys
Before the campus heats up and police arrive, we encourage student media outlets to find and establish a relationship with a local criminal defense attorney. The Student Press Law Center can provide assistance on various media law issues that may arise during protest coverage (for example, censorship, privacy law questions, access to records or places), but we are not criminal defense lawyers nor do we know your local police chief or prosecutor.
If you or a member of your staff is arrested or jailed, you will want a local lawyer who knows their way around your local courthouse that you can count on quickly. (But after they help you deal with the immediate issue of getting released, please contact our Legal Hotline to let us know about the press freedom violation and so we can help with next steps.)
4. Make a succession plan
We all learned a lot from the events of the spring, but turnover is a fact of life for student media. Student media leaders and advisers should be thoughtful in establishing training and other mechanisms to ensure you pass along the reporting tips and lessons, SPLC’s Covering Protests Guide, the Legal Hotline and other information to the next generation.
You should also establish a process by which future leaders will learn about the college’s emergency response plans and maintain your organization’s back-up plans and attorney relationships. In our ever-changing media environment, that is a great legacy to leave.
We hope you will not need to rely any of these resources, but if so, you — and future staffers — will be thankful you made time for them now. If SPLC can help you consider or implement any of the above, please reach out to us on the Legal Hotline.