Founded in 1974, the Student Press Law Center has a long history of promoting, supporting and defending the First Amendment and free press rights of student journalists and their advisers. In recent years we’ve worked hard to increase our impact while staying true to that core mission.
Who we help
The SPLC team is dedicated to protecting student journalists and their advisers across the country. Whether that be standing with students to fight against unlawful censorship or ensuring that New Voices legislation is doing its job to protect student press freedom, we’ve always got your back.
Over the past few years, our team has answered thousands of calls to our free legal hotline seeking support and legal guidance. Here are just a few of the stories behind those calls and how our help and resources had such a lasting impact on student press freedom.
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A snapshot of SPLC’s impact in 2022
SPLC’s long-term growth
In recent years, SPLC has undergone tremendous growth and transformation, expanding our strategies to promote, support and defend the First Amendment and free press rights of student journalists and their advisers.
The free legal hotline continues to be the core of our work, enabling student journalists to contact expert attorneys who answer their media law questions and provide support when confronted by censorship.
We’ve moved over the past few years: from our focus on putting out fires to working to change systems to ensure the fires don’t break out at all.
We’ve expanded our advocacy strategy by building a dedicated advocacy and organizing team who put students in the center of our New Voices organizing.
We’ve launched an accountability initiative which seeks to ensure that states with New Voices protections are implementing the law and that students and advisers know their legal rights.
To see how SPLC has evolved and grown over the past three years and to get a sense of where we’re headed, read Three Years in Review, 2019-2022: