Executive Director Barrington responds to Fond du Lac controversy

In response to the new student publication guidelines which create a policy of prior review and make possible prior restraint, the board of the Kettle Moraine Press Association objects to the denial of free speech on the Fond du Lac High School campus and encourages a repeal of these guidelines.

Cardinal cover article

The Fond du Lac Board of Education’s policy authorizes students to express their point of view. This principal’s new guidelines, endorsing prior restraint, should not contradict the very policy which grants him the right to provide guidelines. Neither should these guidelines deny students their First Amendment rights: government officials (school administrators) may not suppress student speech.

The Tinker v. Des Moines Supreme Court ruling underlines the First Amendment rights of students to express themselves. Because the Cardinal Columns has operated as a public forum for student expression, students are entitled to even stronger First Amendment protection. Granted, school administrators may censor student publications when they can show that its content will cause a “material and substantial disruption” of school activities. At Fond du Lac High School, no such disruption occurred, except to the sensibilities of the school administration.

These new guidelines clearly make the newspaper subject to prior review. This is the first step to prior restraint, and it inevitably leads the reviewer (whether principal or adviser) to censor and the student journalists to self-censor in an effort to assure approval from the reviewer. Students learn more when they make their own choices and take responsibility for them. This is effective teaching and it is responsible journalism.

Students do not learn about freedom of speech in a vacuum. Their experience in the school newsroom gives life to the values of the First Amendment that they learn about in a history or civic class. The Common Core Standards direct students to “Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content,” exactly what they have done with the articles in the Cardinal Columns. (CCSS W.2) The standards also direct students to publish their work (CCSS W.6). The Cardinal Columns provides them with that venue.

We implore you to dismiss your concerns about the school’s “public image” when the editors and writers of the Cardinal Columns report responsibly about difficult issues and offer explanations and examples that will help their peers cope with the stressors in their lives. This is the epitome of responsible reporting and, as such, should be a source of pride for you and your school.

Furthermore, journalism adviser Matthew Smith is an experienced journalist and teacher. He was hired for these very skills and has demonstrated the effectiveness of his work with these students. He encourages them to seek multiple viewpoints, to evaluate the credibility of sources, to weigh the value of covering sensitive topics, and to make sound decisions about what should be published. Yet the new guidelines imply that Smith is not qualified to recognize “materials that are poorly written, inadequately researched, false, defamatory or libelous, vulgar or profane, unsuitable for immature audiences, or biased or prejudiced,” and so the principal must review the students’ work before it goes to press. Keep in mind, when the principal does so, he will be 100 percent responsible for the content, not the students.

This is a step in the wrong direction. We implore you once again, to remove the new guidelines and allow students to take responsibility for their publication. They have demonstrated their ability to do so and should be given the trust they deserve.

Linda Barrington, executive director
Kettle Moraine Press Association

At the link below, the web story from the Green Bay ABC affiliate offers seven minutes of video with editors being interviewed about why and how they decided to run this story in Cardinal Columns February issue. In addition to the link from the Cardinal Columns cover above, this web story also contains a link to the Cardinal Columns issue.

Controversy Surrounds FDL HS Newspaper Article