Signed by Gov. Jim Justice in March 2023, the law protects the press freedom of West Virginia’s public school and university student journalists and their advisers. The law says that student journalism cannot be censored by school officials, except in certain very narrow circumstances, and that advisers cannot be penalized for refusing to infringe on their student’s press rights.
This brochure, which was last updated in August 2023, provides information about the law and its impacts on student journalists, advisers and school officials. It is not exhaustive and should not be considered a substitute for legal advice. If you have specific questions about the law, please contact the Student Press Law Center’s legal hotline.
Jump to:
• About the Student Press Law Center
• Executive Summary
• Public School Students
• College Students
• Advisers
• School officials
• Resources
About the Student Press Law Center
The Student Press Law Center (SPLC) is an independent, non-partisan 501c(3) which works at the intersection of law, journalism and education to promote, support and defend the First Amendment and press freedom rights of student journalists and their advisers at the high school and college level. The SPLC uses the law to help students of all ages meaningfully participate in civic life and learn essential skills, ethics and values through the vehicle of journalism. The SPLC provides information, training and legal assistance at no charge to student journalists and the educators who work with them. For more information, visit www.splc.org or contact our legal hotline at splc.org/legalrequest.
Executive Summary
Details about the law and its protections for public high school and university student journalists and advisers are enclosed within. To summarize, the law says:
- Student journalists determine the content of school-sponsored media.
- School officials can restrict school-sponsored media that:
- Is libelous or slanderous;
- Constitutes an actionable invasion of privacy;
- Is obscene, vulgar, pornographic, or of sensual or illicit sexual content;
- Violates federal or state law; or
- Expressly incites students to engage in the commission of an unlawful act or acts, or violate a lawful school policy, or is likely to cause the material and substantial disruption of the operation of the school.
- School districts cannot engage in prior restraint of lawful student speech.
- School officials must tell students in advance their reason for censoring student media expression and give a timely opportunity for appeal.
- Advisers cannot be penalized for refusing to censor, interfere with or overrule student decisions relating to lawful school-sponsored media.
- Each county board of education, public college and public university must have a written policy for the exercise of student journalists’ free speech and press, which cannot be stricter than this law.
Other laws may also protect your speech from censorship. Contact the Student Press Law Center’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp if you are or believe you may be receiving pressure to cut, edit, or amend your student media.
Calls to the hotline are confidential unless and until you approve otherwise.
Public School Students
WV §18B-21-1 et seq
Summary
The law protects the press freedom of West Virginia’s public school student journalists. The law says that student media cannot be censored by school officials, except in certain very narrow circumstances, and that advisers cannot be penalized for refusing to infringe on their students’ press rights.
School-sponsored media
The law protects from censorship anything that is “prepared, substantially written, published, or broadcast, in any media, by a student journalist at a school,” that is “distributed or generally made available to members of the student body,” and prepared under the direction of a student media adviser. This includes newspapers, yearbooks, broadcast channels, audio or video programs, literary magazines, and other forms of media that may evolve in the future.
School-sponsored media does not include projects you do just for class, your personal social media (which may be protected by other laws or court decisions), or anything you distribute to the student body on your own time without an adviser involved.
Media content
Student journalists are responsible for “determining the news, opinion, feature, and other news reporting content” of school-sponsored media. While your adviser may make suggestions and offer feedback, you make the final decision about what is, and what is not, included. This also means that you are responsible for the final product, including any praise, criticisms, or (in very rare circumstances) any potential lawsuits.
Censorship
Censorship can take many forms, but in general it is any action that is meant to stop, dissuade, or discourage you from producing or distributing student media. Sometimes it is overt (“you may not publish this”) but sometimes there are more subtle forms of censorship. This can include, but is not limited to, strong suggestions that a story be withheld or changed, “reviewing” a student piece until the publication deadline has passed, threats to change your grades unless some aspect of a piece is changed, outright or suggested cuts to your student media program’s funding following a controversial piece, reassignment of your adviser, or the disappearance/destruction of student media once you have distributed it. If you believe you have experienced or are at risk of censorship, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp.
If a school official believes your media contains unprotected speech, they are required to justify their decision to you before they censor your work. They are also required to give a “timely opportunity for appeal” of any restricted media. When possible, get this justification in writing. At the very least, write down all the details as soon as you can, along with the date and time of any conversations.
Prior restraint and prior review
Prior restraint is when a school official tells you that you cannot publish something or takes any action to prevent you from doing so. The law is clear that they cannot do this unless your media includes the unprotected speech detailed below. If school officials do engage in prior restraint, they must justify their actions to you before they restrain your work. They must also afford you a “timely appeal” for any censored media.
School officials sometimes engage in prior review, which is where they look at school-sponsored media before it is distributed but do not have to give their approval. If your school officials engage in prior restraint and hold your student media for more than 72 hours, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp/.
Unprotected speech
The law does allow for school officials to restrict some student media, just as you can be penalized for saying certain things in class.
School officials may only prohibit student media that:
- Is libelous or slanderous;
- Constitutes an actionable invasion of privacy;
- Is obscene, vulgar, pornographic, or of sensual or illicit sexual content;
- Violates federal or state laws; or
- Expressly incites students so as to engage in the commission of an unlawful act or acts, or violate a lawful school policy, or is likely to cause the material and substantial disruption of the operation of the school.
Your school must have a specific, fact-based reason to believe your work will cause a disruption before they can restrict it. This can include past experience in the school and current events influencing student behavior. If your work is censored because of concerns about a material and substantial disruption, ask for those specific facts. Fear of or potential for disruption is not enough of a reason to censor you.
If content in your media does not fall into one of these categories, school officials — including your principal or your adviser — cannot stop you from producing or distributing it. They also cannot penalize you or your student media adviser for your decision to produce or distribute the media.
Even if your speech falls into one of these categories, it may be protected by the First Amendment or other laws. Just because this law says your speech can be censored for these reasons does not mean it should. If your student media is censored, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at ssplc.org/legalhelp.
Following sound journalism practices and ethics will help ensure your work does not meet any of these criteria. If you are concerned that your work falls into one of these categories, you should talk with your adviser, the Student Press Law Center, or other legal counsel. You can do this at any point in the research, production or distribution process.
School policy
Every county board of education is required to have a written policy for the exercise of your free speech and free press rights. This policy should include “a provision allowing for the timely appeal” of any censorship decision. The policy cannot restrict your speech further than this law allows. These policies are a public record. If you cannot find the policy or it does not match what is described in this brochure, contact the Student Press Law Center.
If you’ve been censored
If you believe or suspect that you have been censored or are about to be censored, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline as soon as possible at splc.org/legalhelp. There are a range of options available to you. Whenever possible, write down the dates, times and description of events as they happen to help keep your facts in order and establish a timeline.
Calls to the legal hotline are confidential unless and until you approve otherwise.
FAQs
What is libel? What is slander?
Libel is the publication of false statements of fact that seriously harm a person’s reputation. Slander is the speaking of false statements of fact that seriously harm a person’s reputation. If a statement is true, it cannot be libelous or slanderous, no matter how harmful it is to the person’s reputation.
What is a “material and substantial disruption”?
A substantial disruption is anything that could so interfere with the school day as to make normal school activities nearly impossible. This is decided on a case-by-case basis, but could include walkouts, fights, interruptions to class, or harassment of teachers or students. This “substantial disruption” standard was established by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Tinker vs. Des Moines decision many years ago, so your administrators and advisers have plenty of practice applying it to student speech. Remember, the law does not prohibit you from reporting on these things, just from inciting them.
Isn’t freedom of the press protected by the First Amendment?
Yes, but the U.S. Supreme Court has given public schools some authority to restrict the activities of students. A U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District allows school officials to restrict student speech in certain narrow circumstances (including if it would cause a “material disruption” in the school community or could be libelous or slanderous). Another Supreme Court decision known as Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier allowed schools broader authority to censor student journalists’ speech. As a result, many school districts have censored students for reasons that have nothing to do with legitimate pedagogical concerns. This law restores key aspects of Tinker as it applies to student journalists and puts your speech back in line with the standard established by the Tinker decision.
If my school is sued for libel because of content in our student media, who is responsible?
You. However, libel lawsuits against high school journalists are exceptionally rare. (In fact, when this brochure went to press, there had not been a single reported case in the U.S. finding a school district liable for work published by its student media.) As long as you are following standard journalistic practices you should not have to worry.
Can my adviser tell me there are problems with my article?
Your adviser may teach you English and journalism standards, and may give you feedback regarding your article including questioning if something you have written is untruthful or ensuring you are prepared for any controversy. Unless your speech falls within one of the unprotected speech categories above, however, they cannot stop you from distributing your work.
How do I know if I’m being censored?
If nobody has expressly told you “don’t publish this,” it can be easy to tell yourself you’re not being censored or that you are overreacting. Talk with your adviser, parents and the SPLC if you suspect you are receiving any pressure to hold or edit material that does not contain unprotected speech.
Can my principal ask to review something before we distribute it?
This is called “prior review,” and while it’s not expressly prohibited by this law there is certainly no need for your principal to engage in it unless they have reason to believe you are engaging in unprotected speech. In fact, the practice of mandatory prior review by administrators has been roundly condemned by every major journalism education group in the country as the wrong way to teach young journalists. If your principal asks to review your materials before publication, ask if there is anything they are concerned about. If your principal does engage in prior review and holds your work for more than 72 hours, you should contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
What if my adviser or principal says something is unprotected and I disagree?
They must be able to tell you exactly why it is unprotected, including pointing to the specific law or rule you are violating or giving you a clear reason why they believe your work presents a material and substantial disruption. If they do not give you this information within 72 hours or you disagree with their decision, you should contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
I go to a private school. Am I protected?
This law does not apply to you at this time. Private schools have more ability to restrict student speech than public schools. However, you may still be able to push back against censorship at your school. Contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalrequest/ for more information.
College and University Students
WV §18B-21-1 et seq
Summary
The law protects the press freedom of West Virginia’s student journalists in the public colleges and universities. The law says that student media cannot be censored by school officials, except in certain very narrow circumstances, and that advisers cannot be penalized for refusing to infringe upon their students’ press rights.
School-sponsored media
The law protects from censorship anything that is “prepared, substantially written, published, or broadcast in any media by a student journalist” at a public college or university, which is “distributed or generally made available to members of the student body,” and prepared under the direction of a student media adviser. This includes newspapers, yearbooks, broadcast channels, literary magazines, and other forms of media that may evolve in the future.
School-sponsored media does not cover projects you do just for class, your personal social media (which may be protected by other laws or court decisions), or anything you distribute to the student body on your own time without an adviser involved.
Media content
Student journalists are responsible for determining the news, opinion, feature, and other news reporting content of school-sponsored media. While your adviser may make suggestions and offer feedback, you make the final decision about what is, and is not, included. This also means that you are responsible for the final product, including any praise, criticisms, or (in very rare circumstances) lawsuits.
Censorship
Censorship can take many forms, but in general it is any action that is meant to stop, dissuade, or discourage you from producing or distributing student media. Sometimes it is overt (“you may not publish this”) but sometimes there are more subtle forms of censorship. This can include, but is not limited to, strong suggestions that a story be withheld or changed, “reviewing” a student piece until the publication deadline has passed, threats to change your grades unless some aspect of a piece is changed, outright or suggested cuts to your student media program’s funding following a controversial piece, reassignment of your adviser, or the disappearance/destruction of student media once you have distributed it. If you believe you have experienced or are at risk of censorship, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp.
If a school official believes your media contains unprotected speech, they are required to justify their decision to you before they censor your work. They are also required to give a “timely opportunity for appeal” of any restricted media. When possible, get this justification in writing. At the very least, write down all the details as soon as you can, along with the date and time of any conversations.
Unprotected speech
In general, courts have held that public college and university student journalists cannot be censored by school officials. However, it still happens. This law makes clear that school officials may only limit the speech of college student journalists in very specific circumstances.
School officials may only prohibit student expression that:
- Is libelous or slanderous;
- Constitutes an actionable invasion of privacy;
- Is obscene, vulgar, pornographic, or of sensual or illicit sexual content;
- Violates the federal or state law; or
- Expressly incites students to engage in the commission of an unlawful act or acts, or violate a lawful school policy, or is likely to cause the material and substantial disruption of the operation of the school.
Your school must have specific, fact-based reasons to believe your work will cause a material and substantial disruption. This can include past experience in the school and current events influencing student behavior. If your work is censored because of concerns about a material and substantial disruption, ask for those specific facts. Fear of or potential for disruption is not enough of a reason to censor you.
If your media content does not fall into one of those categories, school officials cannot stop you from producing or distributing it. They also cannot penalize you or your student media adviser for your decision to produce or distribute the media.
Even if your speech falls into one of these categories, it may be protected by the First Amendment or other laws. Just because this law says your speech can be censored for these reasons does not mean it should. If your student media is censored, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp.
Following sound journalism practices and ethics will help ensure your work does not meet any of these criteria. If you are concerned that your work falls into one of these categories, you should talk with your adviser, the Student Press Law Center, or other legal counsel. You can do this at any point in the research, production or distribution process.
Prior restraint and prior review
Prior restraint is when a school official tells you that you have to get their approval before publishing your work. The law is clear that prior restraint is not allowed unless your media includes the unprotected speech detailed below. If school officials do engage in prior restraint, they must justify their actions to you before they restrain your work. They also must afford you a “timely appeal” for any restrained media.
School officials sometimes engage in prior review, which is where they look at school-sponsored media before it is distributed but do not have to give their approval. If your school officials engage in prior restraint and hold your student media for more than 72 hours, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp/.
School policy
Every public college and university is required to have a written policy for the exercise of your free speech and free press rights. This policy should include “a provision allowing for the timely appeal” of any censorship decision. The policy cannot restrict your speech further than this law allows. These policies are a public record. If you cannot find the policy or it does not match what is described in this brochure, contact the Student Press Law Center.
If you’ve been censored
If you believe or suspect that you have been censored or are about to be censored, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline as soon as possible at splc.org/legalhelp/. There are a range of options available to you. Whenever possible, write down the dates, times and description of events as they happen to help keep your facts in order and establish a timeline.
FAQs
Can my adviser tell me there are problems with my article?
Your adviser can teach you English and journalism standards, and may give you feedback regarding your article including questioning if something you have written is untrue or ensuring you are prepared for any resulting controversy. Unless your work contains unprotected speech, they cannot stop you from moving forward with the piece.
How do I know if I’m being censored?
If nobody has expressly told you “don’t publish this,” it can be easy to tell yourself you’re not being censored or are overreacting. Talk with your adviser and the SPLC if you suspect you are receiving any pressure not to put out material that does not contain unprotected speech.
What is a “material and substantial disruption?”
A substantial disruption is anything that could so interfere with the school environment as to make normal school activities impossible. This is decided on a case-by-case basis, but could include walkouts, fights, interruptions to class, or harassment of teachers or students. Remember, the law does not prohibit you from reporting on these things, just from inciting them.
If my school is sued for libel because of the content of our student media, who is responsible?
You. However, libel lawsuits against student journalists are very rare. As long as you are following journalistic standards and ethics, you should not encounter a problem.
Can school administration ask to review something before we distribute it?
They can ask, but you are not required to let them review it. This often happens when a university public relations official wants to “check in” on a story. If school officials, including the public relations department, ask to review your work, ask if there is anything they are concerned about before deciding whether or not to grant permission for them to see it. Be aware that you are under no obligation to share your story prior to publication. If you feel pressured to turn over your work, this is censorship and you should contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp/.
I go to a private college. Am I protected?
This law does not apply to you at this time. Private schools have more ability to restrict student speech than public schools. However, you may still be able to push back against censorship at your school. Contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp for more information.
Advisers
WV §18B-21-1 et seq
Summary
The law protects public high school and public college or university student media advisers from retaliation for refusing to infringe upon your students’ press rights. Advisers cannot be “dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against” for refusing to infringe on student journalists’ lawful speech.
Media content
Student journalists are responsible for “determining the news, opinion, feature, and other news reporting content” of the media. While you may make suggestions and offer feedback, you cannot sway or overrule the students’ final decisions about what is, and what is not, included in school-sponsored media.
Adviser protection
Often, advisers report that censorship of school-sponsored media means professional consequences for them instead of academic ones for the student. Under this law, a student media adviser cannot be “dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against” for refusing to overrule, suppress or interfere with lawful student media expression.
Prior restraint and prior review
Prior restraint is when a school official tells a student they have to get their approval before publishing their work. The law is clear that prior restraint is not allowed unless your media includes the unprotected speech detailed below. If school officials do engage in prior restraint, they must justify their actions to the student before they restrain the work. They also must afford students a “timely appeal” for any restrained media.
School officials sometimes engage in prior review, which is where they look at school-sponsored media before it is distributed. If your school officials engage in prior restraint and hold your student media for more than 72 hours, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp/.
Unprotected speech
The law does allow for school officials to restrict student media content in some narrow circumstances.
School officials may only prohibit student media if it:
- Is libelous or slanderous;
- Constitutes an actionable invasion of privacy;
- Is obscene, vulgar, pornographic, or of sensual or illicit sexual content;
- Violates federal or state law; or
- Expressly incites students to engage in the commission of an unlawful act or acts, or violate a lawful school policy, or is likely to cause the material and substantial disruption of the operation of the school.
School officials must justify any restriction of student media, and give a timely opportunity for appeal. They must base a forecast of material and substantial disruption on specific facts, including past experience in the school and current events influencing student behavior, and not on undifferentiated fear or apprehension. If a student’s work is censored because of concerns about a material and substantial disruption, ask for those specific facts.
Unless the student media meets these criteria, the media cannot be restricted and you cannot be penalized for refusing to restrict it. If the student has a strong understanding of sound journalism practices and ethics, their work is unlikely to fall into any of these criteria.
Even if a student’s speech falls into one of these categories, it may be protected by the First Amendment or other laws. Just because this law says your speech can be censored for these reasons does not mean it should. If your student media is censored, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp.
Censorship and retaliation
Censorship can take many forms, but in general it is any action that is meant to stop, dissuade, or discourage a student from producing or distributing student media. This can include, but is not limited to, strong suggestions that a story be withheld or changed, “reviewing” a student piece until the publication deadline has passed, threats to change a student’s grades unless an aspect of a student media piece is changed, or the disappearance/destruction of student media once it has been distributed.
Often, advisers report that the censorship took the form of professional consequences for them instead of academic ones for the student. This has included loss of funding for the student media program, adviser reassignment, meetings or phone calls with administrators in which the administration’s dislike of a story is the main topic, or pressure from other teachers and school employees. These actions are prohibited under the law. If you believe you have experienced or are at risk of retaliation, contact the SPLC’s legal hotline immediately at splc.org/legalhelp.
If your student has been censored or you have been retaliated against
Contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp. There are a range of options available to you.
FAQs
Can I suggest my students not run an article? What if my student produces something I suspect will be disruptive?
You can share your concerns with your students, but unless the work includes unprotected speech, the decision is ultimately theirs. If you believe your student is planning to distribute work which meets the criteria for unprotected speech, you should be as clear as possible with them about the concerns and the reasons why you believe their work is not protected by the Student Journalist Press Freedom Protection Act.
I work at a private college or a community college. Am I protected?
The law does not expressly protect you at this time. However, your students’ speech may still be protected by law and you may still have legal rights. Contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp for more information.
What do I do if the administration tells me to edit or stop something from being distributed?
Contact the SPLC’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
School Officials
WV §18B-21-1 et seq
Summary
The law says that public high school and public college and university student journalists cannot be censored or disciplined for their work except in certain specific circumstances. The law also prohibits terminating or otherwise disciplining a student media adviser who refuses to infringe upon student press rights.
School-sponsored media
The law covers any media that is “prepared, written, published, or broadcast in any media” by a student journalist, that is “distributed or generally made available to members of the student body,” and prepared under the direction of a student media adviser. This includes newspapers, yearbooks, broadcast channels, literary magazines, and any other form of media that may evolve in the future.
Student media does not include projects students do just for class, their personal social media (which may be protected by other laws and/or court decisions), or anything they distribute to the student body on their own time without an adviser involved.
Media content
Student journalists are responsible for determining the news, opinion, feature, and other news reporting content of the media. While advisers may make suggestions and offer feedback, they cannot sway the students’ final decisions about what is, and what is not, included. This also means that student journalists are responsible for the final product, including receiving any praise, criticisms or (in very rare circumstances) lawsuits.
Prior restraint and prior review
Prior restraint is when a school official tells a student journalist they cannot publish a story, or takes any action to prevent the student journalist from doing so. Prior restraint is limited by the First Amendment, and is prohibited by this law except when the media in question contains unprotected speech defined below.
Prior review is when a school official views the content of school-sponsored media before it is published or distributed. The practice of mandatory prior review has been roundly condemned by nearly every major journalism education group in the country as the wrong way to teach young journalists. Prior review should be avoided unless there are specific, articulable concerns that the school-sponsored media contains unprotected speech.
The law requires school officials to tell the student journalist the reason for restricting their media before the restriction takes place. School officials are also required to give a “timely opportunity” for appealing any restricted student media.
Unprotected speech
The law brings the speech rights of student journalists in line with the standard for all other student speech set forth in Tinker vs. Des Moines, and allows for the restriction of student media in certain narrow circumstances.
School officials may only prohibit school-sponsored media that:
- Is libelous or slanderous;
- Constitutes an actionable invasion of privacy;
- Is obscene, vulgar, pornographic, or of sensual or illicit sexual content;
- Violates federal or state law; or
- Expressly incites students to engage in the commission of an unlawful act or acts, or violate a lawful school policy, or is likely to cause the material and substantial disruption of the operation of the school.
Unless the school-sponsored media meets these criteria, school officials – including principals, deans, advisers, and university public relations departments – cannot stop student journalists from producing or distributing their work.
School officials are required to show justification for any limitation of school-sponsored media at the time the media is limited
Even if a student’s speech falls into one of these categories, it may be protected by the First Amendment or other laws. Just because this law says a student’s speech can be censored for these reasons does not mean it should or that the censorship is lawful.
Material and substantial disruption
A substantial disruption is anything that could so interfere with the school day as to make school activities nearly impossible. The material and substantial disruption exemption applies only if a student journalist is inciting the disruption; reporting on a controversial topic is itself not sufficient cause for restricting student speech. These are taken on a case-by-case basis, but there should be an articulable risk of disruption, informed by specific facts, including past history at the school and current events influencing student behavior.
The law makes clear that determinations of a material and substantial disruption must be based on articulable facts, including past issues at the school or current issues affecting the behavior of students. It is not sufficient under the law to base a material and substantial disruption on “undifferentiated fear or apprehension.”
Whenever a risk of material and substantial disruption occurs, school officials should consider all other avenues of alleviating this disruption before resorting to censorship. School officials are required to inform student journalists before the censorship occurs why the censorship is necessary and give students the timely opportunity to appeal.
Types of censorship
Censorship can take many forms, but in general it is any action that is meant to stop, dissuade, or urge a student journalist not to produce or distribute student media. While some students have been explicitly told not to publish a particular story, others have faced more subtle forms of censorship. This has included, but is not limited to, strong suggestions that a story be withheld or changed, “reviewing” a student piece until the publication deadline has passed, threats to change a student’s grades certain aspects of a piece are changed, outright or suggested cuts to the student media program’s funding following a controversial piece, reassignment of the student media adviser, or the disappearance/destruction of student media once it has been distributed.
Adviser protection
Often, advisers report that the censorship took the form of professional consequences for them instead of academic ones for the student. This has included loss of funding for the class or club, adviser reassignment, meetings or phone calls with administrators in which the administration’s dislike of a story is the main topic, or pressure from other teachers and coaches. All of these actions are prohibited under the law, which expressly states that no student media adviser may be “dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned, transferred, or otherwise retaliated against” solely for protecting or refusing to infringe upon a student journalist who is not engaging in unprotected speech.
Student media policy
Each county Board of Education, public college and public university are required to adopt a written policy for the free speech and press of student journalists. This policy shall include a “timely opportunity” for appeal of any censorship by school officials. It cannot restrict student journalists’ speech further than this law allows. A clear policy can be helpful in making sure everyone has the same understanding and expectation of the student media program. A model policy is available via the Student Press Law Center.
If a student is unlawfully censored or an adviser retaliated against
They have a range of options available to them, including going to court to compel the publication of the contested material.
FAQs
Doesn’t Hazelwood give school administrators the right to restrict student media?
States are always able to extend more protections to their residents than Supreme Court decisions hold to be required. West Virginia has joined a growing number of other states in extending stronger protections to student journalists and providing more concrete guidance to schools than that put forth by the U.S. Supreme Court in the Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier decision.
What do I tell angry parents when a student writes a controversial article?
The law makes clear that student journalists alone determine the content of school-sponsored media and that student media is not an expression of school policy. Parents certainly have the option of registering their opinion with the student editor.
If my school is sued for libel or slander, who is responsible?
The student journalist. However, lawsuits against student journalists are exceedingly rare. (In fact, as of when this brochure went to press, there had not been a single officially reported case in the U.S. finding a school district liable for work published by its high school student media.)
Journalism standards and ethics prevent libel and slander. Schools should ensure that advisers and student journalists have adequate training and appropriate resources to thoroughly educate students on media law and journalistic ethics. Students can also reach out to the Student Press Law Center’s legal hotline for more guidance on libel and slander.
If student journalists report on rumors of a walkout, does that constitute a material and substantial disruption?
If they are simply reporting on information, no. The disruption already exists. If they are calling for a walkout and there is a history of such walkouts proving irreparably disruptive to the school, maybe. However, before resorting to the censorship of a student journalist you should consider whether the same call is already reaching students through social media and whether the work by the student journalist offers school officials an opportunity to engage in meaningful dialogue with the student body about their concerns.
Can I talk to a student journalist about my concerns relating to their article?
You can certainly help student journalists have as many facts as possible. You cannot require, suggest or encourage a student journalist to pull a story from school-sponsored media.
How can I get more information about the Student Journalist Press Freedom Protection Act and our rights and responsibilities?
Contact the Student Press Law Center’s legal hotline at splc.org/legalhelp.
Resources
For more information or assistance on the Student Journalist Press Freedom Protection Act, student press freedom, or other issues regarding student media, please contact:
