Many high school students are not sinking their journalistic chops into meaty stories, and it may be because many are not using public records for their research, said Diana Mitsu Klos, senior project director for the American Society of Newspaper Editors.
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SUNSHINE WEEK: High school journalists dig through public records to get the real dirt
Student journalists at Desoto High School could have written a story on how administrators were spending money to solve the gang problem at their school.
Students in MySpace.com group suspended after contents deemed threatening
Police are investigatinghate crime and terrorist threat charges against a middle school student whoposted comments about another student on a MySpace.com group that schoolofficials deemed threatening.
Proposed legislation in California designed to protect college journalists
Two student press-friendly bills are making their way through the CaliforniaState Assembly -- one that would prohibit the theft of free publicationsand another that is designed to protect the First Amendment rights of collegejournalists.
Former DJ's First Amendment lawsuit can move forward, appeals court rules
Aformer disc jockey at a university-run public radio station can have his day incourt after being fired for expressing controversial opinions on air, accordingto a state court of appeals ruling.
Student sues school alleging harassment policies have 'chilling effect' on speech
A university student is suing Penn State University to challenge theschool's anti-discrimination and harassment policies, which he claims ''suppress the discussion of controversialviewpoints.''
School district blames ACLU for student’s defamation claim
PENNSYLVANIA -- In a move that legal experts say ''turns libel law on its head,'' a school district has sought permission to sue the attorneys representing a high school student who sued the district after he was disciplined for posting an online parody profile of his principal on MySpace.com.
Attorneys for the Hermitage School District in Hermitage, Pa., filed a motion last week to lodge a third party complaint against the American Civil Liberties Union attorneys who are representing 18-year-old Justin Layshock in his lawsuit against the school district.
University foundation pushes legislation to seal some donor info
IOWA -- A university fund-raising foundation has proposed legislation that would amend Iowa's public records law to make some donor information confidential.
Bills introduced in early February in both the Iowa state Senate and House of Representatives would categorize records related to the personal and financial information of donors as confidential, including records ''disclosing the identity of a donor or a prospective donor.''
Susan Shullaw, spokeswoman for the University of Iowa Foundation in Iowa City, confirmed that legal counsel and lobbyists for the foundation drew up the proposed legislation.
According to Shullaw, the legislation is in large part a response to the Iowa Supreme Court decision made a year ago, which ruled that a similar foundation at Iowa State University was a public agency subject to the open records law.
Cartoonist riles some with ‘Christ on Campus’ strip
VIRGINIA -- Another college cartoonist has stirred up controversy by depicting a religious figure, but this time it is not Islam's Muhammad, but Christianity's Jesus.
Christian Keesee, a sophomore at Radford University, has been drawing the controversial comic strip ''Christ on Campus'' since October of last year for an online student magazine called Whim.
Univ. of Illinois student editor fired after publishing Muhammad cartoons
The editor in chief of the University of\nIllinois