The Student Press Law Center is proud to honor four Mountain View High School students with the 2024 Courage in Student Journalism Award for persevering against administrative censorship and retaliation to investigate sexual harassment at their school. The students used the experience to educate others about student press freedom, and two sued their district to vindicate their rights.
Student journalists in Lawrence, Kansas, and Los Angeles, California, were also recognized as finalists for the national Courage award, given annually to student journalists who have demonstrated exceptional determination and support for student press freedom, despite resistance or difficult circumstances.
SPLC and the National Scholastic Press Association announced the winners Nov. 9 at the Fall National High School Journalism Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
“In taking on their principal and school district, the student journalists from The Oracle are standing up and speaking out for every student who has ever felt intimidated or forced to censor their work because administrators’ worried that their courageous reporting might reflect poorly on the school,” SPLC Executive Director Gary Green said. “By fighting for their student press rights, which have been protected by California’s Education Code 48907 since 1977, they are ensuring that the law doesn’t get ignored or whittled away when future generations of student journalists expose uncomfortable truths.”
Winners
Oracle editor-in-chief Hanna Olson and a team of reporters — including Renuka Mungee, Myesha Phukan and Hayes Duenow — were investigating several incidents of sexual harassment at their school in spring 2023 when Principal Kip Glazer took notice.
Over multiple meetings with Glazer about the draft article, the students said they felt bullied and threatened into severely watering down the investigation. They made several substantive changes before publication because of Glazer’s pressure, but they insisted that the victims’ stories should be told.
Their investigation, once published, opened a larger dialogue about sexual assault and harassment, and the school arranged workshops and presentations to educate about the issue.
But soon after the article’s publication, Glazer cut the introduction to journalism class, replaced the journalism adviser and restructured the Oracle class — which the students saw as clear retaliation for their reporting and an attempt to destabilize the journalism program.
The students, however, did not take Glazer’s retaliation quietly, instead speaking out about their experience, suing the school district to defend their press freedom rights — and those of future Oracle journalists — and educating other students across California and the country.
On Student Press Freedom Day earlier this year, Olson, Duenow and former adviser Carla Gomez filed a lawsuit against the school district and administration, arguing Glazer’s “enormous and unlawful pressure” and subsequent retaliation violated California Education Code § 48907 — which generally protects students from censorship and advisers from retaliation — as well as state labor laws.
Over the past year, the students have shared their story at student journalism conventions and in the media, educating hundreds of other students and encouraging them to understand, use and advocate for their own press freedom rights.
Phukan also participated in SPLC’s New Voices Student Leaders Institute and wrote about her experience at Mountain View, concluding with a call for student journalists to uplift important stories of those in their communities and to “not let your administrators get away with silencing their voices and yours.”
“We are so honored and grateful on behalf of the Oracle to receive the Courage in Student Journalism Award,” Phukan and Mungee said in a statement. “First and foremost, we would like to applaud the exceptional bravery of the survivors who shared their stories with us — without them and their courage, this article wouldn’t have been written. Our job as student journalists has never been to uplift our school, nor to purposefully degrade it. As journalists, we work to tell the truth through objective reporting, fact and interviews. We play an integral role in maintaining a democratic society filled with informed citizens, and are proud to do so.
“While the censorship of our work by our administration had numerous detrimental impacts on our program and staff, it reminded us of the resilience of journalism and the importance of the free press. We want to extend the biggest thanks to our former adviser, Ms. Gomez, our current adviser, Mr. Morris, and the SPLC staff who helped us navigate our way through an extremely difficult period. To all student journalists reading this, our advice is this: if you don’t write, nothing will change. Write the story if you believe it needs to be told, regardless of the opinion of your administration. We applaud student journalists across the nation advocating against censorship and hope to continue that fight with our work.”
Finalists
Morgan Salisbury, Jack Tell, Maya Smith and Natasha Torkzaban, Lawrence (Kan.) High School
Four Lawrence (Kansas) High School student journalists — Morgan Salisbury, Jack Tell, Maya Smith and Natasha Torkzaban — are recognized for their inspirational and persistent efforts to oppose technologies in their school district that surveil on and interfere with their press freedom rights.
After months of raising attention about the issue, they convinced their school district to exclude their newsgathering materials from an AI-powered tool that scans students’ files and flags and removes content it deems a safety risk. The Budget newspaper editors argued the tool violated student privacy and their rights to report freely under the First Amendment, the Kansas shield law and the Kansas Student Publications Act.
Working with SPLC and local attorneys, the students not only expressed their concerns about the software’s interference in the journalistic process, but they also flagged several other potential issues affecting all students. Among those concerns was the fact that the software prevented flagged emails from being delivered, meaning messages from students seeking help might be delayed.
The editors also educated their fellow students about the technology’s implications, resulting in hundreds of students and staff at the school wearing Tinker-style black armbands to support them.
Their impressive efforts have become a model for students across the country who are concerned that their district monitors their files as well. They detailed the steps they took and gave advice for other student journalists in similar circumstances.
The Mirror Staff, Van Nuys High School
The staff of The Mirror at Van Nuys High School, under the leadership of editor Angelina Gevorgyan, is recognized for challenging censorship within the nation’s second largest school district as they covered a stabbing at their school.
Following the stabbing and subsequent campus lockdown, The Mirror quickly reported and published an online story about the breaking news from within their own school, while TV helicopters and news crews reported outside.
Hours later, however, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District ordered the students to remove the article without justification.
Knowing that California’s § 48907 provides only a few bases on which such censorship would be legal, the student journalists repeatedly asked school administrators for an explanation. When they never received one, more than 30 students staged a walkout that forced a meeting with the principal.
Not only did The Mirror republish their article, but they also wrote an in-depth editorial explaining the importance of student press freedom and highlighting their own and others’ battles with censorship.
About the award
The Courage in Student Journalism Award recognizes student journalists who have demonstrated exceptional determination and support for student press freedom, despite resistance or difficult circumstances. It is presented annually by SPLC and the National Scholastic Press Association at the fall National High School Journalism Convention. Prior winners can be found here.
This year’s winner was selected by an advisory committee of journalists and journalism educators, including Ellen Austin, retired high school journalism teacher and adjunct faculty at Kent State’s School of Media and Journalism; Lori Keekley, associate director for Quill and Scroll at NSPA; and Gary Green, SPLC executive director.
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The Student Press Law Center (splc.org) is a nonpartisan nonprofit that promotes, supports and defends the First Amendment and free press rights of student journalists. Operating since 1974, SPLC provides information, training and legal assistance at no charge to high school and college student journalists and the educators who work with them. SPLC also supports the grassroots, student-led New Voices movement, which seeks to protect student press freedom through state laws. Learn more about our impact.