Category: Legal

Student journalists arrested while covering Dartmouth protests
Legal

Two student journalists at Dartmouth College were arrested last night while covering protests on the campus. Each was charged with criminal trespass.  According to The Dartmouth, the college’s student newspaper, two of its reporters, Charlotte Hampton and Alesandra “Dre” Gonzales were both wearing press identification, and Gonzales was taking photos of the events. Among 90… Continue reading Student journalists arrested while covering Dartmouth protests

Lawsuit alleges California principal bullied, retaliated against student newspaper
Legal

Two California student journalists and a student media adviser have sued their district and administration, accusing them of “bullying, threatening and coerc[ing]” the student newspaper staff to “save face” and then retaliating by cutting a journalism class and removing the adviser.

Virginia College Press Freedom Act

Legal

Va. Code Ann. § 23.1-401.2 Public college student journalists; freedom of speech and the press. A. As used in this section: “Institution-sponsored student media” means any material that is prepared, substantially written, published, or broadcast by a student journalist at a public institution of higher education under the direction of a student media adviser and distributed or… Continue reading Virginia College Press Freedom Act

Can police search our newsroom?

Paper cut outs of question marks strewn around a desk next to a hand holing a pen
Legal

Q: Can the police or campus security search our newsroom to get unpublished photos, notes or videos? A: Almost never. The federal Privacy Protection Act makes it illegal for law enforcement officers or government officials to search a newsroom (or anywhere else where newsgathering materials are kept, such as the trunk of a reporter’s car)… Continue reading Can police search our newsroom?