The Student Press Law Center joined the journalismworld Wednesday in mourning the loss of Pulitzer Prize-winning newspaperman andauthor Jack Nelson, whose landmark study documenting widespread censorship ofstudent journalism, Captive Voices, led to the formation of theSPLC.
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O’Reilly-featured student editorial is a factor in changing school policy
Too often, the issue of students’ right of free expression is regarded as a “liberal” concern.
Northwestern journalism students fight subpoenas
Journalism students working on the Medill Innocence Project atNorthwestern University's Medill School of Journalism are fightingsubpoenas requesting their grades, off-the-record interviews, electroniccommunications, notes, course syllabi, grading criteria for the course andreceipts for expenses that students incurred for their investigation of the caseof Anthony McKinney, who was convicted and jailed in 1978 for allegedly shootinga security guard in Harvey, Ill.
Finally — some good news about civics ed!
It looks like the incoming president of the American Bar Association has been reading many of the same alarming surveys we've discussed and has seen enough: He intends to make civics education the hallmark issue of his presidency.ABA President-Elect Stephen Zack said in an interview this week that he wants the group, the largest voluntary professional organization in the world with more than 400,000 lawyer and law-student members, to take a leadership role in creating a pilot program with other bar associations that would give students from every high school in the country the opportunity to participate in an educational course that would immerse them in civics.
'Porn policy' under review at U. of Maryland
The University of Maryland is seeking input fromstudents on a new "porn policy," which the school's Board ofRegents plans to vote on Friday, Oct. 23. Some students feel the restrictions in the policy would infringe upon their First Amendment rights.
Could we try zero tolerance for ignorant school disciplinary decisions?
"Zero tolerance" policies have been applied to a 13-year-old who drew a picture of a gun and to a six-year-old Cub Scout who dared to bring his camp utensil to school.
Principal censors newspaper's articles about tattoos
MISSOURI -- Timberland High School Principal Winston Rogers isrefusing to give the editors of the student newspaper an explanation for why herequired replacement of a story in the second issue of their paper that includedads and an article about tattoos.
Another warning about the sad state of American civics education
Lou Ureneck, chairman of the journalism department at Boston University, has a column in The Boston Globe this week that sounds yet another warning bell about the "sorry" (I might substitute "scary") state of our nation's "civic health" and the impact it has -- and will continue to have -- on political discourse in the United States.
Butler president defends school's choice to file lawsuit against blogger
The president of Butler University is defending the university's decision tofile a lawsuit against a blogger they claimed had repeatedly libeled twoadministrators.
'Walk of shame' column prompts protests at Fairfield University
Protests, destruction of newspapers andstudent-government resolutions have unfolded over the past two weeks followingthe Sept. 30 publication of a satirical column about the "walk of shame" in Fairfield University's student newspaper, the Fairfield Mirror.