The Student Press Law Center has a strong history of promoting, supporting and defending the First Amendment and free press rights of student journalists and their advisers. For 50 years, SPLC has been where student journalists turn for help standing up to censorship, obtaining public records, reporting on their communities and advocating for their own rights. 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, both at the high school and college levels. 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 a lasting impact on student press freedom:
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Empowering Bold Journalism & Brave Advocacy in 2022-2023
Last school year, students and educators across the country faced unprecedented challenges for journalism and free speech on their campuses. But the Student Press Law Center was there — alongside many advocates, volunteers and partners — to defend and advance student press freedom.
Our free legal hotline has continued to be the core of our work, enabling student journalists to contact expert attorneys who answer their media law questions, conduct pre-publication reviews and provide support when confronted by censorship.
Our attorneys also took their legal expertise beyond the hotline, creating new digital legal guides and resources and educating thousands of students and advisers through more than 100 in-person and virtual trainings, workshops and institutes.
We’ve expanded and evolved our advocacy strategy, and in 2022-2023, we saw the momentum for student press freedom grow even stronger. Three new state laws passed within 15 months from 2021 to 2023, and we have seen a growing interest among students in addressing press freedom at the local level.
To ensure each New Voices law is implemented and honored, we now proactively inform school and district administrators about the requirements of newly adopted laws, and we are educating students about their rights in every New Voices state.
This only scratches the surface of what we’ve accomplished during the 2022-2023 year. To read more about how we’ve evolved this year and to get a sense of what’s to come –– including SPLC’s 50th anniversary celebration –– read our full 2022-2023 annual report: A Year of Empowering Bold Journalism & Brave Advocacy.