Myesha Phukan is an advocacy intern for the Student Press Law Center and a co-winner of the 2024 Courage in Student Journalism Award.
If someone asked me what New Voices was three years ago, I would have looked at them with a blank expression. Now, if the same person asked me that same question today, I probably would talk their ear off about advocacy, implementation and organizing. I have the Student Press Law Center to thank for that.
Over the past two years, I have spoken about my experience with censorship countless times — to local and national media sources, lawyers, advisers and student journalists across the country — and I will continue to tell that story.
In 2023, I co-wrote an investigative article on sexual harassment at my high school for the school newspaper, taking a deeper look into instances of assault, stalking and general harassment that had occurred within the previous few years. After reaching out to my principal for an interview, she asked for prior review of the piece, an action I now know to often be a stepping stone to actual censorship. Demanding the removal of integral quotes and victim accounts, my principal told me that the article’s publication would be “catastrophic” to the perception of the school, using fear tactics to intimidate us. One month after we published a watered-down and self-censored version in an attempt to appease her, my principal reassigned our paper’s experienced journalism adviser and eliminated our Introduction to Journalism class on false pretenses.
While I vehemently oppose this type of administrative action, the experience allowed me to find SPLC as a saving grace. Trust me, there is no dramatization in my word choice. SPLC provided our newspaper staff with the support we needed, whether it was legal assistance or tips on how to speak up at school board meetings.
In my experience, it is truly rare to find an organization that, despite not profiting from it, truly dedicates itself to offering everything in its capacity to help student journalists like me. It was because of SPLC’s help that, in my opinion, we were able to eloquently and reasonably defend our article with legal backing.
As one can imagine, then, I jumped at the opportunity to work with SPLC as an advocacy intern last October. I can truly say that the experience has been like no other, and it heightened my passion for the New Voices movement. Since starting as an intern, I have been able to take a deeper dive into much of the behind-the-scenes work that goes into creating a cohesive platform and bringing bills to the table. Being able to work alongside people who truly care about the work they do makes me want to put my best foot forward.
Among the many opportunities I’ve had as an intern, one highlight for me is interacting with New Voices advocates on the ground. I have had the privilege of sitting in on meetings with these advocates, interviewing them, or writing about their testimonies at various hearings across the country. I would count that as one of the best parts of my role: seeing student journalists fight for the protections they deserve, and taking their stories to committee chambers.
While thinking about the courage of student journalists to report with power, I want to acknowledge that SPLC has always shown up for them. It takes resilience to invest so much time and energy into the work it does — something I have now seen firsthand.
This Student Press Freedom Day, therefore, I am reaffirming my commitment to keep using the voice SPLC helped me find to stand with student journalists nationwide. To my fellow students: keep telling the truth, write the story, and do the work many are afraid to do — SPLC will have your back.