Incoming junior Olivia O’Neal was recognized by the Society of Professional Journalists for best in-depth reporting at schools with 10,000 or fewer students for her powerful story on Afghan evacuees living in Indiana. The Student Press Law Center was proud to arrange free, pre-publication legal vetting for the piece.
As thousands of students across the country walked out of school in January and February to protest the killing of two Minneapolis residents by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, many student journalists were prevented from covering one of the biggest stories of the year. It was the single largest subject of censorship reported to SPLC's Legal Hotline this school year.
It has been a turbulent year in the courts for student journalism, with a number of decided and ongoing cases that could have long-lasting implications for student press freedom and beyond. The Student Press Law Center reviews where eight of these cases stand right now.
This month, student journalists sat down with the Student Press Law Center to discuss how they’re helping cover the millions of documents released in connection to several Epstein investigations, and how to defend accurate reporting when powerful people push back.
Gretna East High School junior Nicholas Mitchell filed an appeal yesterday with the Gretna Public Schools Board of Education, asking them to reverse the recent censorship of an editorial cartoon and to establish a district policy that lets student editors determine the content of school-sponsored student media without prior review.
Amid escalating student press censorship, funding cuts and other challenges, participants in the 2026 State of Student Press Freedom webinar made it clear that students aren’t cowering under these growing threats. Instead, they are actively fighting them.