Student press in the United States Student publication

1 student press in united states

1.1 case law

1.1.1 tinker v. des moines independent community school district
1.1.2 hazelwood school district v. kuhlmeier
1.1.3 kincaid v. gibson
1.1.4 interaction of court rulings
1.1.5 john silber , university newspapers


1.2 issues of diversity in student newspapers

student press in united states


front page of first edition of daily tar heel student newspaper of university of north carolina 1892.



stuyvesant high school newspaper


case law
tinker v. des moines independent community school district

tinker v. des moines concerns group of students wanted wear black armbands school in 1965 protest united states involvement in vietnam. after school officials heard planned silent protest, suspended students involved. few of students involved sued , supreme court sided students, saying provided these speech acts did not distract or others academic work, real purpose of school, students free wear , want liked in school. considered benchmark case in issues of student free speech , contains famous phrase students not shed constitutional rights @ schoolhouse gate.

hazelwood school district v. kuhlmeier

hazelwood school district v. kuhlmeier, heard united states supreme court in 1987 concerned public school newspaper attempted print 2 controversial stories issues of teen pregnancy , divorced families. custom of principal on proposed paper before publication. little time left before publication deadline, principal decided 2 stories, though names had been changed protect stories subjects, inappropriate paper s younger readers; under direction of principal, paper printed without offending stories. students filed suit, supreme court stood principal s ruling, that, because of time constraints, proper course of action not print stories. decided students first amendment rights had not been infringed. case cited high schools , universities support custom of prior review.

kincaid v. gibson
interaction of court rulings

hazelwood , tinker offer conflicting versions of student free expression. student-directed publications may indeed considered open or limited public forums student expression, offering students freedom of expression under both hazelwood , tinker.

hazelwood, example, not administrators must review or censor papers before publication. in fact, journalism education organizations, journalism education association, argue prior review has no legitimate educational merit , tool leading censorship.

under limited conditions , situations presented hazelwood, school administrators may permitted prior review of (mostly high school) student publications.

until june 2005, hazelwood standard not considered apply public college , university newspapers, decision affirmed in 2001 appeals court decision in kincaid v. gibson. however, in june 2005, 7th circuit court of appeals ruled, in hosty v. carter, hazelwood standard apply student publications not designated public forums, , in february 2006 supreme court declined hear students appeal. @ time, hosty decision applies in states of illinois, indiana , wisconsin.

in response kincaid decision, california state legislature passed ab 2581, extended existing state-level statutory protection of high school student journalists college , university students. bill signed law governor arnold schwarzenegger , took effect on january 1, 2007.

controversy on alleged censorship actions has led student newspapers become independent organizations, such exponent of purdue university in 1969, daily californian of university of california, berkeley in 1971, daily orange of syracuse university in 1971, independent florida alligator of university of florida in 1973, cavalier daily of university of virginia in 1979, paisano of university of texas @ san antonio in 1981, , mountaineer jeffersonian of west virginia university in 2008.

some states have laws enhance u.s. constitution in protecting student expression. more detailed review of state , national student press rights, see student press law center s site here.

john silber , university newspapers

university administrations have learned around constitutional protections , diminish critical student newspapers following example of former boston university president john silber, on advice of harvard law school professor alan dershowitz, eliminated funding student newspapers in 1970s in attempt suppress on-campus criticism. silber s policy went far ban student organizations funded university placing advertisements in student press. hands-off policy, silber able eliminate independence of daily news , financially crippled more-radical b.u. exposure. exposure sued silber , university infringement of first amendment rights, courts of commonwealth of massachusetts dismissed case.

issues of diversity in student newspapers

a troublesome development in student newspapers of united states lack of editorial diversity displayed. studies journal of blacks in higher education (jbhe) focusing on african american students have found few 2.6% of editors of student newspapers of african-american descent, other minorities showing similar trending. these numbers not better @ schools credited journalism schools. in these institutions 4.4% of editors of african american descent. both of these percentages below percentage of population african- americans make in total united states. such skewed demographics in these publications result in newspapers reflect outlooks , values of particular segment of student population, doing disservice each campus community. unclear options there rectify situation. jbhe not suggest type of affirmative action program student publications @ point in time.