Student journalists, educators and other advocates of student journalism, including an attorney from the Student Press Law Center, testified Feb. 11 at a hearing of Missouri’s House Committee on Elementary and Secondary Education in support of HB 2918.
Also known as the Cronkite New Voices Act, the legislation would provide stronger protections against arbitrary censorship for Missouri student journalists at the high school and collegiate levels. It would also protect student media advisers from administrative retaliation for declining to restrict their students’ rights.
The bill aims to restore protections for student media curtailed by the 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision in Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, which involved Hazelwood East High School in suburban St. Louis.
Cathy Kuhlmeier, a student plaintiff in that case, testified in support of the bill. Sharing her own experience with censorship, Kuhlmeier spoke to the importance of scholastic journalism programs and protections.
“Journalism programs enable students to express themselves constructively and also help to grow them into young adults who are competent and capable of so many things,” she told the committee. “I believe you will find this to be especially true today as you listen to the students who are here before you. They are concerned with their rights, and it is my hope that you will be too.”
Students from Clayton High School and the University of Missouri School of Journalism also testified in support of the bill, speaking to why such protections are necessary for high school and collegiate journalists across the state.
“I think testifying was important because making sure student journalists can write stories freely and without fear of censorship is essential,” Clayton High junior Adam Watson told SPLC afterward.
Charles Balestra, a senior at Clayton High, said hearing from “young voices had a really big impact” on the committee members.
“We put a lot of preparation into [our testimony], and I think we were all ready for all the questions that came our way,” he said. “I think a lot of the committee was really impressed, and I’m optimistic it’ll help the bill get scheduled quickly and hopefully pass.”
SPLC Staff Attorney Jonathan Gaston-Falk also provided in-person testimony, answering questions from legislators that arose during the hearing. The Student Press Law Center also submitted written testimony.
No one spoke in opposition to the bill.
Rep. Scott Miller, the bill’s sponsor, explained that the legislation would create reasonable guardrails for administrators while allowing students to think critically and express themselves.
Hazelwood, he argued, “dampened the fire in those young minds by allowing school administrators to ignore journalistic integrity in favor of pedagogies and agendas determined by those school administrators and directors.”
A recording of the hearing can be viewed here, with discussion of HB 2918 starting at 1:13:00. While the committee did not take a vote at the hearing, it may do so in future meetings.
About New Voices: New Voices is a student-led, nonpartisan movement working to end censorship of student media by passing state laws that protect students’ right to report freely. The Student Press Law Center powers this movement by convening coalitions, educating lawmakers, sharing model policies and equipping students with the training and confidence they need to stand up for press freedom.