Our freedom of expression gives us the duty to make a difference lionsroarnews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from lionsroarnews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
More than ever, student journalists must be on the lookout for censorship
In 2019, FIRE released “Under Pressure: The Warning Signs of Student Press Censorship,” a report documenting FIRE’s advocacy for student journalists’ rights and the threats they face. With over two decades spent defending campus free expression, FIRE has seen firsthand that student journalists are often the immediate line of defense against administrations intent on violating student and faculty rights and sometimes, they pay the price for it.
Today, for Student Press Freedom Day, we’re revisiting some of the student press cases FIRE had fielded since the report’s release and the warning signs they illustrate to remind student journalists how to identify, and stay vigilant against, potential censorship. (For more information about Student Press Freedom Day, see the Student Press Law Center’s list of events and resources, and join us today at 1:30 p.m. ET for a panel discussion about studen
Housing and Development Newsletter
For skeptics wary of letting the proverbial inmates run the asylum, it’s worth noting that the so-called adults in the room have amassed an abysmal track record. The most common causes of high school censorship are viewpoint-based discrimination (the principal doesn’t like your politics) and image control (the story makes the school look bad).
Those aren’t valid reasons to interfere with students’ coursework. While some high school publications are extracurricular activities, most are produced in journalism and communications classes. And when principals swoop in to play censor, they undermine professional educators and throw out the approved curriculum to impose their own hasty, half-baked judgment calls.