The First Amendment Matters PSA Contest
April 9, 2017
Filed under First Amendment, News Updates, Top Story
As New Voices campaigns spread across the country, we want our students to be aware of their First Amendment rights. One of the ways to do that is to get them involved in doing something worthwhile that will sharpen their awareness and understanding of the issues. Here’s a link to a very do-able...
Video: The Importance of New Voices
February 12, 2017
Filed under First Amendment
Take a few minutes to watch this video and learn why we are passionate in Wisconsin about getting New Voices legislation to protect student speech. https://youtu.be/R8GmsIbkUpk This video explains why New Voices Legislation is so important to protect student journalists' freedom of speech and of the ...
The true story behind Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier
November 4, 2016
Filed under First Amendment, News Updates, Top Story
Do you know the real story behind the censorship at Hazelwood East High School in the 1980s? This amazing podcast from the Student Press Law Center reveals details not made public before now. Listen to Frank LoMonte's interview with Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey, whose name is on the well-known Hazelwood...
Illinois governor signs Speech Rights for Scholastic Journalists Act
July 31, 2016
Filed under Blogs, First Amendment, News Updates
by Stan Zoller, MJE The five-month journey of Illinois HB5902, the Speech Rights for Scholastic Journalists Act, came to an exciting end on Friday, July 29 when Illinois Gov. Bruce Rauner signed HB5902 into law, creating Public Act 99-0678. The journey was one filled with surprises, disapp...
Illinois speech rights bill on Governor’s desk
July 23, 2016
Filed under Blogs, First Amendment
by Stan Zoller, MJE The five-month journey of Illinois HB5902, the Speech Rights for Scholastic Journalists Act, has been one filled with surprises, disappointments – and a lot of luck. What started with a meeting with me, Illinois JEA State Director Brenda Field and Illinois State Rep. Elaine...
Wisconsin should support student expression
May 4, 2016
Filed under First Amendment
by Matt Smith Two years ago, the Fond du Lac School District unveiled new guidelines requiring administrative review and approval before the publication of any student media. The reaction by students was swift, democratic and effective. Within days, they had publicized the change online, presented...
Students support New Voices of Illinois legislation
April 18, 2016
Filed under First Amendment, News, News Updates
Kendall Huffman and six of her staff wait for the Illinois House Judiciary Committee to begin hearing on the proposed student press rights bill. They visited their representative, Adam Brown, and Governor Rauner and told them about the pending legislation. Huffman is the newspaper and...
Libel in the age of social media: potentially a perilous path
February 22, 2016
Filed under Blogs, First Amendment
By Bob Kay Historically most high school publications donʼt have to deal with the issue of being hit with a libel suit. In this day and age with the proliferation of information on social media that can be tempting to use in student publications, there is a much greater chance of being sued if ...
Wisconsin New Voices looks for legislative sponsorship
February 16, 2016
Filed under Blogs, First Amendment, News
by Linda Barrington, MJE The good news is that Illinois New Voices Act has found legislative sponsorship. Wisconsin, however, is a step behind. We need bipartisan sponsorship and support. Recently, I wrote to Wisconsin advisers, both high school and college, asking them to write to their se...
Integrity, credibility = your license to be a reporter
December 14, 2015
Filed under Blogs, First Amendment
by Bob Kay Unlike doctors and lawyers, journalists are not required to be licensed and be subject to an official code whereby they can lose their permission to practice in a certain field. Nonetheless, professional journalists are subject to their own code of ethics such as the one created by the...
Copyright Issues: No, you can’t just take pictures from Google and put them in your publications
October 26, 2015
Filed under Blogs, First Amendment
by Bob Kay Copyright issues tend to be an ongoing problem for many high school publications, particularly when it comes to using photographs, audio or video from other sources. Copyright attaches to someone’s work once they have created it and put it in some type of fixed format like a photo, b...
1 For All First Amendment Challenge
April 2, 2015
Filed under First Amendment
Bill of Rights Day is December 15th! For those of us in the United States, this is a perfect opportunity to discuss and celebrate the Constitutional amendments that have defined and shaped our country. This year, the 1 for All First Amendment Challenge offers secondary school teachers the chance to...
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