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- Responding to Censorship
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Back-to-School Checklist
- Have “The Talk” with your students about your role as a school employee
- Set the expectation that you as adviser should not know anonymous source’s identities
- Understand (and make sure your students understand) who owns what
- Evaluate your staff’s knowledge of media-law
Additional Reading
Standards for Journalism Educators
Written and approved by the Journalism Education Association, advisers can use these standards to show administrators the various tasks and approaches they carry out in their programs. In the spirit of the First Amendment, the guidelines focus on the process of publishing student media, not the student product. The guidelines are appropriate for both high school and college-level programs.
Professional Associations and Email Lists
Both College Media Association and the Journalism Education Association operate very active email listservs that can provide wonderful information and peer support to student media advisers. The Columbia Scholastic Press Association also has useful information for high school media advisers on its website.
Proof of the Value of Student Journalism
These articles and studies are just a handful that demonstrate independent student media is an integral part of a vibrant and effective education system:
Student Media Financial Survival Strategies
If your student newsroom is facing budget cuts, loss of ad revenue, transitioning away from print or you just want to educate yourself, these resources are for you. While some of the resources target either high school or college, the strategies and guidance can be easily translated for any kind of student media.
A manual for student media advisers on responding to censorship
Note: please excuse any outdated language. This manual was published in 2006 but remains relevant today.
The negative effects of censorship on students, advisers and communities are very real. The SPLC publication, Press Freedom in Practice, A Manual for Student Media Advisers on Responding to Censorship, counters that impact in two ways:
- By providing real-life examples of advisers and students avoiding or overcoming censorship.
- By offering sound educational arguments to persuade censor-prone school administrators that there is a better way. Download Press Freedom in Practice.
Threats to the Independence of Student Media
A committee composed of representatives from the American Association of University Professors, the College
Media Association, the National Coalition Against Censorship, and the Student Press Law Center formulated this
joint statement in fall 2016. The document received the endorsement of all four sponsoring organizations.
