Student media adviser removed just nine days before semester begins

(Fernando Gallo [right] with a former student)

CALIFORNIA — A faculty adviser for a student newspaper in California was removed from his position less than two weeks before the fall semester began, a move the student editor believes was a result of critical coverage of administrators. For a single semester, Fernando Gallo, a former journalist, served as head adviser to the Inquirer,… Continue reading Student media adviser removed just nine days before semester begins

Ask SPLC: How can a public Community College paper stand up to censorship?

Q: I’m the editor of my public community college newspaper. We are called a club or organization, not a free press. We have been censored by being told what topics we can write about. Our adviser frequently kills stories because he says the quality is poor, even though I and my section editors have cleared it… Continue reading Ask SPLC: How can a public Community College paper stand up to censorship?

‘Go take pictures of birds’: Firefighter tells student reporters to beat it, refuses to give identification

Emergency vehicles outside the health center at El Camino College outside Los Angeles. Student journalists were told to "go take pictures of birds" and were threatened with arrest while trying to report on the scene. Credit: Rosemary Montalvo / The Union

CALIFORNIA — A Los Angeles county firefighter threatened student reporters with arrest and repeatedly rebuffed them while they were trying to gather information on emergency crews on campus, according to the journalists. Emergency crews, including police and an ambulance, appeared to be responding to a medical incident at the college’s student health center. A man… Continue reading ‘Go take pictures of birds’: Firefighter tells student reporters to beat it, refuses to give identification