Guest MINDSETTER™ Forleo: A Teachable Moment, Uncensored

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Guest MINDSETTER™ Steven F. Forleo

 

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Student-run media deserve free speech rights. The Student Journalists' Freedom of Expression Act now presented in both Rhode Island legislative chambers will  empower today's diverse voices, while guaranteeing students are heard without abridgment.

The Legislation

Landmark legislation H 7677 and S 2899 will greatly invigorate and uphold free speech for high school and college students here in our great state. These bills are part of the national New Voices initiative, adamantly supported by the Student Press Law Center. 

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This pending legislation protects student publications as well as participating students and advisers from any censorship, discipline, suspensions, and any other possible retaliation, including dismissal.

Both pieces of legislation guarantee rights in which ironically all professional journalists already possess. If passed, students and their advisers will be able "to exercise freedom of speech and of the press in both school-sponsored media and non-school sponsored media, regardless of whether the media is supported financially by the school, or uses the facilities of the school, or produced in conjunction with a class in which the student is enrolled" (H 7677). 

Advocating for certain legislation be passed for the greater good is something citizens in a productive society should routinely engage.

It would be easy to advocate through the lens of my adviser obligations for CCRI's student newspaper, The Unfiltered Lens.  However this appeal to legislators is coming from an informed citizen dedicated to the preservation of our precious civil liberties, especially the First Amendment. After all, today’s student journalists will be tomorrow’s civic leaders and social activists. 

Sadly, the onerous 1988 SCOTUS decision, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, requires our state legislation now act in the best interest of those responsible to speak on matters of public importance through the pages of student-run publications.

It is imperative these dedicated, courageous students speak truth to power, question the status quo, and remain free from any intrusive administrative attempts to sanitize or censor publication content written in truthful, ethical prose.

Student Journalism 

Preventing student journalists from actively discussing and writing about issues germane to their constituents serves not the public good but the worst in public discourse. After all "students and teachers do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech and expression at the schoolhouse gate", as famously noted in Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District.

Numerous states have already acted on behalf of their students including Arkansas, California, Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Maryland, Massachusetts, North Dakota, and Oregon, with similar bills pending in Illinois, Michigan, and Minnesota.

In each of these states, it appears bi-partisan support for student journalists was paramount to the legislation passed. Each state legislature, including our own, carefully balances active free speech with preventing libelous content, privacy invasion, violation of state or federal law, and intentionally inciting school disruption.

Student journalists and their advisers must be free to pursue issues pertaining to the overall knowledge and well-being of the school community. With the advent of this specific legislation, student journalists can follow highly important public information with the confidence and assurance that administrators cannot suppress information or retaliate in an arbitrary, capricious manner because the content does not flatter the institution. 

Next to professional media publications, student media outlets shoulder a heavy load to investigate and shed light on transparent accountability in school districts and colleges. The immense responsibility of student journalists and advisers mandate the establishment of a publication which serves an informed citizenry. Both H 7677 and S 2899 provide the necessary protection for strong questioning, credible information gathering, and evaluating sources for hard-hitting stories without having reservations,  self-censoring, or fear of reprisal, including losing letters of recommendation from certain administrators.  

All student media must have the fundamental right of free speech and expression. Our own legislature must cherish and ensure our founding values be upheld, student voices be protected, and through H 7677 and S2899 create and foster a censorship free environment for responsible civic engagement.

Steven F. Forleo is a professor of English at CCRI, and is the adviser and co-founder of the student-run newspaper, The Unfiltered Lens.

 

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