News

Lawsuit against UNC for the release of campus sexual assault records officially ends in favor of student journalists

More than four years after The Daily Tar Heel filed a lawsuit against UNC for the release of campus sexual assault records, the legal battle is officially over. Wikimedia Commons / Mx. Granger CC0 1.0

The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled University of North Carolina must hand over student, faculty, and staff rape, sexual assault, and sexual misconduct records requested by the university's student newspaper, The Daily Tar Heel.

Court one step closer to making WWU release names of sexual misconduct perpetrators to student journalists

Courtesy of The Western Front

WASHINGTON — Western Washington University refused to release the names of students guilty of sexual misconduct in Title IX records they sent to student journalists at The Western Front. But in an October 22 court decision, a Whatcom County judge sided with student journalists, saying the law doesn’t protect the names of students guilty of… Continue reading Court one step closer to making WWU release names of sexual misconduct perpetrators to student journalists

SPLC urges Frostburg State University President to terminate investigation into student journalist

white logo saying SPLC and Student Press Law Center on a bright blue background

SPLC joined the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE) in sending a December 14 letter to Frostburg State University President Ronald Nowaczyk expressing concern after the university targeted a student journalist and directed the student newspaper to investigate and punish her.  Read the full letter: https://splc.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/FIRE-and-SPLC-Letter-to-Frostburg-State-University-December-14-2020.pdf

NEWS RELEASE: SPLC recognizes BluePrints magazine with national award for accountability reporting on their local Georgia school board

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The 2020 Courage in Student Journalism recipient is BluePrints magazine at Cedar Shoals High School in Athens, Georgia, which pressed a local school board and newly appointed board member for honesty and transparency.

UVM hires new adviser without student media’s input; adviser threatens editor’s job

Tensions between UVM administration and The Vermont Cynic are high. After the editor refused to meet with the new adviser, she threatened his job and stipend, but said, “this is in no way a threat.”

VERMONT — When the University of Vermont instituted a hiring freeze due to COVID-19, the administration decided to hire an interim student media adviser already working at the school as a professor of English. But they did so without permission or input from the independent outlets that would work with this adviser. Now, just over… Continue reading UVM hires new adviser without student media’s input; adviser threatens editor’s job

NEWS RELEASE: SPLC recognizes The Linfield Review with national award for investigative reporting of their university

white logo saying SPLC and Student Press Law Center on a bright blue background

For excellence in examining how allegations of sexual assault among students were handled on campus - sparked by a criminal case against a then-college trustee charged with sexually assaulting a student, The Linfield Review, at Linfield University, is the recipient of the Student Press Law Center’s 2019 Reveille Seven College Press Freedom Award.