High school student journalists are facing a new wave of problems concerning their First Amendment right to free speech. According to Katina Paron of New York Daily News, 10 states across the U.S. offer the same journalistic protections for both professionals and high school writers. However, New York, arguably the media capital of the world, does not make that list.
Currently in New York State, principals have the right to view all of the content of the newspaper before it is published. This means school administrators have a right to trash stories they believe do not quite ‘fit’ with the overall outlook of the paper. In other words, investigative pieces, opinion articles and any news that school principals do not approve of can be cut from publication. This has caused papers to sit in “preview copy” for weeks, which can diminish the desire for students to go into this creative field.
Under Hazel v. Kuhlmeier, the Supreme Court ruled that school administrators have the right to censor content if it is poorly reported, contains errors that would affect reading the material or if the material disrupts learning. If a high school administration is using its taxpayer dollars to fund clubs that represent students at school, the newspaper should not be treated any differently. Schools offer business clubs for students seeking careers in the business field or science and math clubs for those pursuing STEM careers. These clubs, as well as many more offer a set of skills that are used in their specific field. Working for a student newspaper can instill organizational skills, communication skills and strengthen both reading and writing. An opportunity like this can show certain students what their passion is, be it reporting, editing, creating layout designs, taking pictures, or the business of selling newspapers.
For school administrators to deliberately stall the publication of papers not only discredits student passions, but can be detrimental to the next generation of journalists. Today’s media giants publish investigative pieces dedicated to inform the public, which parallels the mission of high school journalists.
A new nationwide legislation, New Voices, is determined to provide less-restrictive means to regulating speech. The legislation, under consideration in state legislatures throughout the country, is aimed to combat the prohibition of what school administrators decide is fitting for a student-run newspaper. Failure to recognize student passion, especially now in such a media-centric age, can create problems with the future outlook of media.
