News

Strict guidelines imposed on an award-winning student newspaper are threatening its independence in a state with a law protecting the rights of student journalists.

Editor Holly Ballard said the new guidelines were triggered by the paper's coverage of school board meetings and articles critical of Superintendent Vickie Logan.

The censorship escalated when a feature writer of The Prospective decided to run a series on discrimination at Bryant High School.

The first two articles on racial and religious discrimination ran without a problem, Ballard said, but the third article caused some friction.

The article addressed sexual discrimination at Bryant High School and involved the use of confidential questionnaires frequently used by Prospective reporters to "ensure accuracy of quotes" and cut down on the amount of classtime used for an interview.

The author handed out the questionnaire to a select group of students and promised anonymity.

Complaints started coming into the principal's office from students and parents alike that "felt the questionnaires implied they were homosexual and that they were under attack by the journalism staff," Ballard said.

Principal Danny Spadoni confiscated the questionnaires from the newspaper office unbeknownst to adviser Margaret Sorrows and prohibited the paper from running the final article in the series, Ballard said.

"A week or two later [Spadoni] presented Ms. Sorrows with eight points and made her sign a document that said if she didn't abide by these, her job could be in jeopardy," Ballard said.

The new guidelines require The Prospective to direct student journalists away from "controversial issues," while requiring close monitoring of work, approval of all surveys and a "complete copy" of the newspaper in the principal's possession 48 hours prior to printing.

The newspaper countered the guidelines by submitting a formal rebuttal.

College Internet radio advocates reacted with disappointment late last month as the release of a government arbitration panel's recommendations concerning the fees webcasters must pay record companies signaled another setback in the broadcasters' battle for existence.

The Copyright Arbitration Royalty Panel released its proposed fee schedule Feb.

A libel case against a student newspaper was thrown out of a California Superior Court recently when the judge ruled the case fell under the auspices of a state law that protects free speech.

The Lompoc Unified School District and journalism teacher Suzanne Nicastro filed a motion to dismiss a suit brought by a local family under the anti-Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPP) statute.

California's law was created in 1992 as a response to an increasing number of lawsuits designed to silence protected acts of expression about matters of public concern.

Allowing student free speech may have come at a high price for the Los Angeles Unified School District, after a superior court jury this month handed down a decision that -- if left unchallenged -- could set a dangerous precedent for cases involving student journalists.

A jury unanimously awarded Palisades High School teacher Janis Adams $4.35 million in damages when she took the school district to court over an underground newspaper that she claims the school did little to stop after it defamed her.

CALIFORNIA -- Newspaper thefts have inhibited student publications at three universities in the state in recent weeks, continuing a trend that began last fall when thieves hit at least 11 campuses across the country.

In February alone, the California State University at Long Beach, the University of Southern California and the University of California at Berkeley have had thousands of copies of their campus publications vanish.

CALIFORNIA -- Student newspaper staff members at Whittier College uncovered what may turn out to be the story of the year ... in their very own office.

SOUTH CAROLINA -- An international association of journalism educators has formally expressed its concern over the post-Sept.

WEST VIRGINIA -- Three decades after a landmark Supreme Court decision upheld students' freedom to express anti-war sentiments in school, a high school sophomore was suspended last October for distributing pro-anarchy fliers and wearing a T-shirt that protested America's military operations in Afghanistan.

Katie Sierra was suspended from Sissonville High School in October for distributing pro-anarchy fliers and wearing a T-shirt protesting military operations in Afghanistan.

This week the state chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union hopes to highlight similarities between the two First Amendment cases and spark support for Katie Sierra, the suspended student, in a weeklong series of events titled "Tinker Days: Keeping the Constitution Inside the Schoolhouse Gates."

The 1969 U.S.

VIRGINIA -- The Student Press Law Center and three other organizations filed a friend-of-the-court brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in an upcoming case that questions whether individuals can sue schools and universities for violations of a federal law that regulates the release of student records.

The organizations argue that allowing such lawsuits would hinder the public's right to know and make it difficult for journalists to obtain information from schools and universities that already restrict access to many records involving students.

The case, Gonzaga University v.

TEXAS -- White space. That's what Plano Senior High School students saw in a recent issue of their school newspaper when the principal censored an editorial he deemed racist and several other items dealing with sex.