INSIDE: Landmark student free speech case celebrates 40 years of protection, Page 19 Student Press Law Center EPORT R Winter 2008-09 VOL. XXX, NO. 1 Two Thumbs UP SPLC salutes three schools’ student journalists for their initiative to protect student press rights, Page 25 ALSO INSIDE: Some universities have difficulties with Clery Act rules and new amendments, Page 11 AND: Web 2.0 tools make it easier for students to get out news but can cause legal problems, Page 32 Student Press Law Center EPORT INSIDE Winter 2008-09 VOL. XXX, NO. 1 R COLLEGE CENSORSHIP PUBLICATIONS FELLOW: Liz White Declining profits come to campus����������������������������4 REPORTERS: Alberto D. Morales, Erica Walters and Caitlin Student speech cases influence campus media������6 Wells CONTRIBUTORS: Robert Corn-Revere, Rory Eastburg and Independent paper struggles���������������������������������������8 Micah Ratner Newspaper thieves hurt revenues, message������������9 COVER ART: Jack Dickason ������������������������������������������ 10 CONTRIBUTING ARTISTS: College censorship in brief Hope Donovan, Bob Gandy, Jon Hughes, Marlowe Leverette, Ashley Holt and Asia Sample ACCESS CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS: Zach White, Matt Andrew, Ryder Haske and Wendy Crow Clery Act requirements elude universities ��������11 Alleged assault brings FOI issues to light ��13 The Student Press Law CenterReport (ISSN 0160-3825), published three times each year by the Student Press Law Center, Covering campus elections can get tricky��������� 14 summarizes current cases and controversies involving the rights of the Access in brief���������������������������������������������������������������� 18 student press. The SPLC Report is researched, written and produced by journalism interns and SPLC staff. The Student Press Law CenterReport , Vol. XXX, No. 1, Winter 2008-09, is published by the Student Press Law Center Inc., 1101 LIBEL/PRIVACY Wilson Boulevard, Suite 1100, Arlington, VA 22209-2275, (703) 807- Joke issues can lead to headaches ���������������������� 16 1904. Copyright © 2008 Student Press Law Center. All rights reserved. Yearly subscriptions to the SPLC Report are $15. Contributions are Libel/Privacy in brief������������������������������������������������� 18 tax-deductible. HIGH SCHOOL CENSORSHIP Landmark censorship case celebrates 40 years�� 19 Arkansas armband case revists Tinker ���������21 Students face harsh punishments for clothes����� 23 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR: Frank LoMonte High school censorship in brief���������������������������������� 24 LEGAL CONSULTANT: Mike Hiestand ATTORNEY ADVOCATE: Adam Goldstein COVER STORY OFFICE MANAGER/OUTREACH: Sunjha Hattin Two thumbs up DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR: Beverly Keneagy Brown High schoolers start independent paper��������������� 26 CORPORATE BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNC students ask for freedom agreement ������� 27 Javier J. Aldape l E.W. Scripps Company, Chicago, Ill. Kentucky student appeals for open records��������� 28 l Caesar Andrews Detroit Free Press, Detroit, Mich. Do-it-yourself �����������������������������������������������������29 A.J. Bauer l Patriot Ledger, Quincy, Mass. Jerry Ceppos l University of Nevada at Reno Shawn Chen l Associated Press, Washington, D.C. Virginia Edwards l Education Week, Bethesda, Md. INTERNET Angela Filo l Eastside College Preparatory School, East Palo Alto, Calif. Undefined term could hurt journalists’ rights����� 30 Maureen Freeman l Newseum, Washington, D.C. Instant reporting tools raise new issues��������������� 32 Robert Garcia l ABC News Radio, New York, N.Y. Richard Goehler, Esq. l Frost Brown Todd LLC, Cincinnati, Ohio SPLC’s quick reference for Web 2.0 tools��33 Tonda Rush, Esq. l American PressWorks Inc., Arlington, Va. Internet in brief������������������������������������������������������������ 34 Frank LoMonte, Esq. l Student Press Law Center, Arlington, Va. Rosalind Stark l Radio and Television News Directors Foundation (retired), Reston, Va. Mark Stodder l Dolan Media, Minneapolis, Minn. LEGAL ANALYSIS Reginald Stuart l The McClatchy Company, Silver Spring, Md. Keeping a lawsuit alive after graduation������������� 35 Mark Witherspoon l Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa Organizations for purposes of identification only A MESSAGE FROM THE SPLC REPORT STAFF Tinker still resonates today his edition of the SPLC Report marks mines the educational benefits students gain Liz White, McCormick Foundation Publica- the 40th anniversary of the Supreme in journalism. tions Fellow, graduated from University of Court’s Tinker decision, in which the This past July, the nation’s biggest teacher South Carolina’s School of Jour- TCourt famously declared that students do not organization, the National Education Associa- nalism and Mass Communica- “shed their constitutional rights to freedom of tion, adopted a resolution declaring firm sup- tions in May 2008. She worked at the student newspaper, the speech or expression at the schoolhouse gate.” port for free expression in student media. In the Daily Gamecock, in various The 40-year history of judicial decisions resolution, delegates to NEA’s national conven- roles including editor in chief, since Tinker is largely a story of retrenchment. tion affirmed that “freedom of speech and press and was a part of the inaugural Court after court has found ways to chip away are fundamental principles in our democratic staff to take the paper daily. She also worked at the First Amendment protection afforded society granted by the First Amendment ... , at the campus magazine, Garnet&Black, and to student speech, most recently in a string of and these freedoms provide all people, includ- the journalism school’s newspaper, Carolina rulings allowing schools to punish students for ing students, with the right to engage in robust Reporter. online criticism of teachers or administrators and uninhibited discussion of issues in student on personal Web pages entirely created outside media.” Alberto D. Morales, fall 2008 Scripps Howard of school time. The NEA resolution echoed the senti- Foundation Journalism Intern, is a journalism student from Indiana University at Bloom- I recently participated in a panel discus- ment of the nation’s largest professional as- ington. He was an editor and staff writer of sion at the National High School Journalism sociation of college journalism instructors, the Indiana Daily Student and Convention on what is left of Tinker’s strong which in April 2008 issued a strong decla- re-established the campus First Amendment safeguards after the Supreme ration of the value of uncensored student chapter of the Society of Profes- Court’s 1988 ruling in Hazelwood School Dis- expression. The words of the Association of sional Journalists. Before going trict v. Kuhlmeier. Hazelwood granted adminis- Schools of Journalism and Mass Commu- to Indiana, he was editor in chief trators wider (though not unlimited) latitude to nication are a resounding rejection of the of the Viking News at Ocean censor school-affiliated publications. mindset of a minority of administrators who County College in New Jersey. He received The highlight of the panel was a presenta- see the student media as a problem to be the SPLC’s College Press Freedom Award for tion by Robert Haar, a distinguished litigator minimized or eliminated: preventing the firing of his adviser for articles written by he and his staff. Alberto covered who represented the Hazelwood East school “Students who work on high school high school censorship, legislation and Inter- district before the Supreme Court. Haar de- media learn to think critically, research top- net for the Report. livered a balanced assessment of the ruling and ics, conduct interviews, write clearly for an the Court’s rationale for it. But when the dis- audience and work together as a team. In Erica Walters, fall 2008 Scripps Howard cussion turned to Hazelwood’s impact on jour- schools with strong journalism programs, Foundation Journalism Intern, is a senior nalism education, Haar acknowledged that, they also learn how a free and responsible at the University of Memphis majoring in were his son to study journalism, he would press can improve their school communities newspaper journalism. Erica worked at the want his son to attend a school with the Tinker by informing, entertaining and influencing student newspaper, the Daily level of protection for student speech, because their audience. … ASJMC supports strong Helmsman, as a general assign- that is known to be the sounder educational journalism programs as not only the training ment reporter. She interned and freelanced for area Memphis method of teaching journalism. ground for future journalists but also as the publications including the Col- Haar’s observation reflects a growing place all students can learn about, appreciate lierville Herald, Memphis Health consensus among not just journalism advis- and practice democracy in action.” and Fitness and the Tri-State Defender. She ers, but all educators, that censorship under- — Frank LoMonte, SPLC executive director is a 2008 Chips Quinn scholar and interned for the Dispatch in Lexington, N.C., a New York Times regional newspaper. Erica covered Md. high school, N.J. college college censorship and newspaper theft for students win student press awards the Report. SPLC presented the Courage in Student Journalism Award, co-sponsored by the Newseum and the Na- Caitlin Wells, fall 2008 tional Scholastic Press Association, to student editors Ingelhart Journalism Intern, Jaishri Shankar and Rachel Wagner, adviser Peter graduated from Grinnell