Student Press Law Center

Congratulations to Andrew Hum and Kim Hong of Holmdel High School for winning the First Amendment Award from Youth Journalism International! They both championed press freedom — spurring their district to update its policies to comply with New Jersey’s New Voices law. https://loom.ly/qx30O_4

Andrew and Kim shared more about their experience advocating for student press rights with us last year: https://loom.ly/qf5U4Rg

Student journalists are, yet again, rising to great heights in the face of great obstacles.

Prism writes about how many college publications around the nation have faced significant budget cuts. Data journalist Ananya Chetia highlighted how some have responded with more stories and sounder, more strategic business decisions.

Read the full story: https://loom.ly/Ut7Apyc

As college newspapers are defunded, student journalists fight back At least 20 U.S. colleges have significantly cut funding to student media, according to a Prism analysis. Students are taking strategic business risks to sustain newsrooms

Following a district memo requiring principals to approve every story before publication, student journalists at all 25 public high schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, aren't letting it intimidate them. Instead, they organized.

More than 150 students signed an open letter today demanding the district rescind the memo and follow Maryland's New Voices law — the 2016 student press freedom statute that protects against exactly this kind of administrative overreach.

"We have power to organize, we have power to call out [and] keep institutions accountable,” said Ian Chen, a sophomore and the letter's organizer.

The Student Press Law Center stands behind them. Read the full story and their letter: https://loom.ly/c7SmtGY

Maryland students call for withdrawal of prior review memo - Student Press Law Center More than 150 student journalists from all 25 public high schools in Montgomery County, Maryland, sent an open letter today demanding their district comply with the state’s New Voices legislation after the release of an alarming memo that requires principals to read and approve every story before ...

When student journalists tackle a tough story, the instinct to suppress it is both a legal risk and a missed opportunity. SPLC's Mike Hiestand spoke with K-12 Dive about what school leaders should do instead — and why 18 states now have New Voices laws protecting student press rights.

🔗 Read it here: https://loom.ly/EZrKTJ4

UNL College of Journalism and Mass Communications students were recently honored by the Robert & Ethel Kennedy Human Rights Center, Investigative Reporters & Editors, Hearst Journalism Awards Program and more for their in-depth reporting project on the overcrowding, understaffing and other issues confronting the Nebraska prison system. 🎉 https://loom.ly/nekJVs0

We were proud to provide pre-publication assistance to this team as they worked to give a voice to the incarcerated and their families. This is exactly the kind of courageous, community-centered reporting that student journalists are capable of — and we're here to help make it possible.

Congratulations on the recognition! 👏

'Nebraska Behind Bars' wins Kennedy journalism award A University of Nebraska–Lincoln student project that investigated the overcrowding, understaffing and other multilayered issues confronting Nebraska’s prison system took home the College Journalism Award at the Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Book and Journalism Awards on May 20.

NEW: Fourteen national journalism groups wrote to IU administrators today, urging them to act on a student media task force’s recommendations — and warning that the press freedom community is still watching.

Read the letter here: https://loom.ly/-sc9RPE

IU appointed a task force in November after the university faced widespread backlash for restricting the print content of the student-led Indiana Daily Student, firing the student media director, and canceling IDS print editions, which it later temporarily restored.

The coalition, led by the Student Press Law Center, said it remained "deeply concerned" by IU’s actions, but it praised the task force's work to create a roadmap for a strong, independent future for IU student media.

"The credibility of this process now depends on whether IU follows through," the letter reads. "Now is the time for IU to demonstrate its stated commitment to robust student media by putting that roadmap into action."

In addition to SPLC, the coalition includes:
Associated Collegiate Press
College Media Association
Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Journalism and Women Symposium (JAWS)
Journalism Education Association
The Media and Democracy Project
National Scholastic Press Association
PEN America
Quill and Scroll Honor Society for High School Journalists
RTDNA
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press
Society of Professional Journalists

With the academic year coming to a close, don’t forget to nominate a student journalist for SPLC’s Student Press Freedom Awards!

Both the Courage in Student Journalism Award and the Student Freedom of Information Award come with cash prizes. 🏆

Learn more and apply: https://splc.org/awards/

It’s an urgent moment for student journalists and their educators, and they need support from individuals like you and organizations like the Student Press Law Center.

Please consider a gift to SPLC today to ensure student journalists get the legal help they need when it matters most: https://loom.ly/S5dflTM

Because so many supporters helped us meet Roz Stark’s challenge gift before the June 1 deadline, SPLC Board Vice Chair Ava Lubell has donated an additional $5,000 match to increase our match goal to $25,000. Now through June 15, all donations will be matched dollar-for-dollar until we meet the new goal.

We're excited to participate in Influencer U this summer. Educators, join us!

This nine-session, free webinar about teaching news content creation will run Tuesdays in June and July, 4-5:30 EST / 1-2:30 PST. Follow this link to view the speaker lineup and to register: https://loom.ly/M2YRv48

Influencer U is sponsored by The Center for Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University and Trusting News, along with NSPA and Quill and Scroll.

The Student Press Law Center condemns a federal court ruling upholding — for now, at least — the University of Alabama’s decision to shut down two student magazines, calling the decision a significant threat to student press freedom nationwide.

Read our full statement: https://loom.ly/runpBFs

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Alabama ruled Friday that the university likely did not violate the First Amendment when it closed student-led Alice Magazine and Nineteen Fifty-Six because the publications focused on women and Black students, respectively.

Eight students sued the University of Alabama, arguing — alongside many free speech advocates, including the Student Press Law Center — that the magazines’ closure constituted viewpoint discrimination, which is generally illegal under the First Amendment.

While the judge denied the students’ request for a preliminary injunction, the litigation continues.

Alabama court decision threatens student press freedom - Student Press Law Center The Student Press Law Center today condemned a federal court ruling upholding — for now, at least — the University of Alabama’s decision to shut down two student magazines, calling the decision a significant threat to student press freedom nationwide.