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Student Press Freedom Awards

Each year since 1984, the Student Press Law Center presents competitive awards to recognize exceptional efforts of high school and college journalists in fighting for student press freedom and in telling important stories of their communities. Nominations for the 2023 awards, covering the 2022-2023 academic year, have closed. Winners will be announced at the fall… Continue reading Student Press Freedom Awards

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Legal

Can police search our newsroom?

Q: Can the police or campus security search our newsroom to get unpublished photos, notes or videos? A: Almost never. The federal Privacy Protection Act makes it illegal for law enforcement officers or government officials to search a newsroom (or anywhere else where newsgathering materials are kept, such as the trunk of a reporter’s car)… Continue reading Can police search our newsroom?

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A Guide to Vermont’s New Voices Law

Signed by Gov. Phil Scott in 2017, the law protects the press freedom of Vermont’s student journalists and their advisers. The law says that student journalists cannot be censored by school officials, except in certain very narrow circumstances, and that advisers cannot be penalized for refusing to infringe on their students’ press rights.  This brochure,… Continue reading A Guide to Vermont’s New Voices Law