Rhode Island should enact law to protect student press freedom – The Westerly Sun

Earlier this year, student journalists at a Kansas high school decided to write a profile about their newly hired principal. As they researched the principals background, they began unearthing questions about her credentials. They found that she had received masters and doctoral degrees from a school, Corllins University, that was not currently accredited and that had been portrayed in articles as a diploma mill. Four days after article ran in The Booster Redux, the principal resigned.

That story earned the students widespread praise and national news coverage. But it probably would never have seen the light of day if Kansas hadnt had a student press-freedom law, said Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C. They had the courage to go forward because the law protected their backs, he said.

This spring Vermont and Nevada became the 11th and 12th states to pass a student press-freedom law. And now, as the General Assembly nears the end of this years legislative session, Rhode Island has the chance to become the 13th.

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State Sen. Gayle L. Goldin, D-Providence, said the Booster Redux scoop bolsters the case for her bill, the Student Journalists Freedom of Expression Act (SB 0600). What it shows you is the value of having the freedom for students to do that kind of investigative journalism, she said. They were able to bring accountability to their school and to the whole school system, and on top of that, it was an incredible educational experience for them.

State Rep. Jeremiah T. OGrady, D-Lincoln, has introduced a similar bill (HBill 5550), which extends protection to college journalists as well as the high school journalists protected by Goldins bill.

Justin Silverman, executive director of the New England First Amendment Coalition, said, Student journalism is perhaps the greatest civics lesson we can teach in our schools. By allowing students to write about whats important to them, we are sending the message that what they say matters and needs to be heard. This is empowering not just for them but for the entire community that needs to know what happening in our schools and to have the opportunity to do something about it. These student journalists arent just our future watchdogs. They are our eyes and ears right now.

LoMonte had a simple message for Rhode Island officials: I would tell them that journalism is not a problem for schools, its a solution.

With the advent of social media, it is futile for schools to try to stop students from learning about and having conversations about controversial topics, LoMonte said. You cant hold back the flood of information, he said. Its much better to manage it in a journalistically responsible way.

LoMonte said he has heard of no organized opposition to the legislation in Rhode Island. The only thing is hallway chatter that high school students are too young to be trusted with press freedom, he said. My answer to that is: Read the bill. Its filled with safeguards.

The legislation would not authorize or protect expression by a student that is libelous or slanderous or that incites students as to create a clear and present danger of the commission of an unlawful act or the violation of school district policy.

But the legislation would protect student journalists, and their advisers, from retaliation and censorship.

Mike Donoghue, executive director of the Vermont Press Association, said Vermont legislators heard from student journalists about pushback they received from school officials when writing about controversies such as an impasse in teacher negotiations, sexting, and a school bond. Students should be free to report on them, he said.

In its 1988 Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of a public high school in St. Louis, Mo., to censor student newspaper stories about teen pregnancy and the effects of divorce on children. States such as Massachusetts reacted to the Hazelwood ruling by passing press-freedom acts. Rhode Island should join this effort by providing student journalists with protection.

Edward Fitzpatrick, director of media and public relations at Roger Williams University, is a former Providence Journal columnist.

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Rhode Island should enact law to protect student press freedom - The Westerly Sun