High school journalists need protections

Editorial

Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer

1/23/09

Does freedom of the press stop at the high school door? Should a high school principal or other school administrator have the ability to quash or censor an article in the school newspaper for whatever reason he or she wishes?

We say no on both counts. But in most states, Kentucky included, school administrators have final say over what appears in high school newspapers, with the ability to eliminate anything they don't like, even if what they don't like qualifies as good journalism.

Legislation introduced into the Kentucky General Assembly by Rep. Brent Yonts, a Greenville Democrat, is designed to extend traditional free speech and free press protections to high school newspapers. If approved, high school journalists would be allowed to publish stories without interference from school administrators. Students would not be allowed to commit libel or violate existing laws, but the proposal would stop administrators from killing stories simply because they are critical or controversial.

There are several reasons why this bill deserves support. Free speech and freedom of the press are fundamental First Amendment American rights and high school journalists are citizens protected by the U.S. Constitution. Rights carry responsibilities, and student journalists need the freedom to learn how to handle those responsibilities.

Just as professional newspapers should shine lights in places that could use illumination, a high school newspaper can delve into important matters that school officials might wish they would just as soon avoid. Or, a principal may believe that the school newspaper is not really a newspaper but more of a public relations tool, where only positive articles are published. Neither are reasons to kill or censor stories, but we're guessing it happens. What probably happens more often is that high school newspaper staffs simply avoid anything controversial, knowing it might not ever see print.

We know that high school journalists are still learning and need close supervision, instruction and advice from their teachers and newspaper advisers, but when that supervision rises to unfettered censorship by the principal or some other administrator, it goes too far. The value of a free and robust press in society is unquestioned. High school is a good place for budding journalists to start learning how it's done, but they can't if their hands are tied.