This editorial, among other things, says "And there's no bright line between teenage speech that's clearly out of line and speech that's simply juvenile, inspired or uncomfortably true. "
Actually, I think there is a bright line. To quote:
Freedom of the press is guaranteed only to those who own one. ~Abbott
Joseph Liebling, "Do You Belong in Journalism?" New Yorker, 4 May 1960
Who owns a high school student newspaper? That is, after all, the ultimate question isn't it? If I am a reporter for the Oregonian, and I turn in a story that is unacceptably biased, and my editor chooses not to run it, are they engaging in censorship? Of course not...the owners of a press (and their representatives) have every right to exercise editorial control over the entity they own.
Do students own the student paper? My thought is that they don't...it is ultimately the newspaper of the school, and is owned by the school (and, ultimately, the state of Oregon). Certainly there should be significant deference given to freedom of expression. After all, a school paper is supposed to be an educational endeavor. But if a faculty member exercises their editorial control over a paper they ultimately own is not an infringement on freedom from speech, but is rather an editor/publisher...well, editing. If the students truily want something they completely control, they should do as I did in my subversive youth...and start their own paper, independent of the school.
2 comments:
Sorry, but I must disagree.
I think you are correct that the students do not "own" the school newspaper. But neither do teachers, administrators, or the state of Oregon. School districts are local entities, and, as such, are "owned" by local communities -the taxpayers of that school district.
So, the real question is, who have those taxpayers designated as their representative to run the student newspaper? Clearly taxpayers expect the principal to be the "editor" of the "principal's newsletter" or the "school newsletter," or whatever you want to call it. And of course it would be silly for the students to demand control of that newsletter. But isn't it equally silly for the principal to demand control of the STUDENT newspaper?
Look at it this way. NPR and "Stars and Stripes" are government-owned media outlets. Yet it would be an outrage if any government official tried to step in and excercise control over them, because it is understood that the editors of those outles operate independently of their government owners. The same model should be true with school newspapers, and thanks to the recently-passed law in Oregon, that is now the case.
Now if only my home state of Washington would get their student press rights bill passed, we could hopefully see the cultivation of a generation of more responsible young journalists, not the kind of spineless "yes men" that get produced when principals must approve every little thing in the student newspaper. "Embedded Journalists" - That's a laugh.
I guess my position is that just as a sports team is for the students and mostly participated in by the students, no one argues that coaches and other responsible adults exercise supervision over the students as they participate...why is a newspaper any different? I'm certainly not arguing that everything done on a newspaper should me micromanaged by a principal...but certainly teachers and school administrators have the right to provide guidance and control over educational activities (which includes student newspapers).
That's my view, anyway.
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