The Student Press Law Center, the nation’s leading advocate for student press freedom, hailed the adoption of new protections for Minnesota student journalists. Gov. Tim Walz signed SF 3567 into law on Friday, officially making Minnesota the 18th state to adopt what are known nationally as “New Voices” protections.
The final version of Minnesota’s education policy omnibus bill, SF 3567, passed the House and Senate this week after a conference committee reconciled differences between earlier versions passed by each chamber.
On March 13, student journalists and other supporters of student press freedom testified in the Minnesota Legislature in support of HR 4083 and SF 3998, companion bills that would protect press freedom in the state's school-sponsored media.
The New Voices movement has made significant strides in 2019, with a record number of state bills (11) introduced, and two measures adopted in Arkansas to strengthen protections for student journalists. New Voices is a student-powered nonpartisan grassroots movement of state-based advocates who seek to protect student press freedom with state laws. These laws counteract… Continue reading New Voices bills see success and defeat in 2019 state legislative sessions
MINNESOTA - A New Voices bill that would protect student journalists in grades six through 12 is making its way to the House floor of the Minnesota Statehouse. The bill, HF1868, was first introduced four years ago. It took a change of party control in the House, and the bill’s author becoming chair of the… Continue reading Minnesota’s New Voices bill set to advance in House, faces rougher waters in Senate
Cory Dawson: Since 1988, student reporters have lived under a Supreme Court ruling that gives school administrators vast control over what goes into their school’s newspapers. Since then, students, advocates and media advisers have worked to put press freedoms for student journalists into law by passing New Voices laws in 14 states. These laws protect… Continue reading PODCAST: New Voices advocates talk struggles and successes
More bills protecting the First Amendment rights of student journalists are moving through statehouses than ever before, according to a Student Press Law Center tally. The 11 bills are part of a nationwide effort to pass “New Voices” bills in state legislatures, which effectively counteract and clarify the limits of the 1988 Hazelwood School District… Continue reading A record number of states have introduced New Voices bills in 2019
In the opening days of the new year, bills were introduced in Indiana, Missouri, Nebraska, New Jersey and New York, with holdover bills reactivated in Minnesota and Washington.
Student journalists at St. Louis Park High School in Minnesota have filed a lawsuit against the school seeking access to a hallway surveillance video under the state open records act.
The former high school student who tweeted "Actually yeah" in response to an anonymous charge that he had made out with a female teacher will receive hundreds of thousands in a federal court settlement.
