New Voices legislation seeks to restore student journalist rights

“Student journalists are the most perfectly positioned people to shine light on issues within the school community that the public has a right to know about,” said SPLC Staff Attorney Sommer Ingram Dean. “Censorship is detrimental to society as a whole, and that is no less true in the school setting. We cannot afford to have students afraid to practice the important civic duty of holding the government accountable when it is the voices of these very students that are leading us into the future.”

Student journalists hold power to account, with fewer protections

“By not having overt protections for student press freedom, there is often more self-censorship,” Hadar Harris, executive director of the Student Press Law Center, says. “New Voices is not only about preventing censorship but it is also about empowering student voice.” (New Voices, which is a non-partisan and student-driven campaign, is spearheaded by the SPLC.)… Continue reading Student journalists hold power to account, with fewer protections

Virginia legislators want to stop schools from censoring student media

“These protections are important because punishing students for their speech teaches them that censorship, often arbitrary and without limits, is acceptable. ... We need to encourage new voices — not stifle them. They are tomorrow’s media leaders and engaged citizens,” said Hadar Harris, the head of the Student Press Law Center.