Student journalist protections die in Indiana Senate
Remember those amazing high school journalists in Kansas who exposed their principal's weak credentials? Well, the timing of that story worked against students in Indiana. Legislators and the DOE didn't celebrate that story the way the rest of us did. They saw it as a threat and now our student press freedom bill is dead.
A bill meant to protect student journalists’ First Amendment rights died in the Indiana Senate on Friday.
Rep. Edward Clere, author of House Bill 1130, intended the bill to roll back the restrictions imposed by the 1988 Hazelwood Supreme Court decision.
The Hazelwood decision created a precedent that allows school administrators to censor public high school and college publications almost at will.
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School administrations "will still have power, but they won’t be able to step in just because they think the story puts them in an unfavorable light or touches on a sensitive topic,” he said. “The administration can still step in if they review the publication and it’s inciting someone to break the law, or if it’s obscene or libelous.”
Ken Klimek has been the journalism advisor to Indiana University South Bend’s weekly publication, The Preface, for more than eight years. His job consists of guiding student journalists in the right direction on articles and making sure nothing libelous makes it through to print.
“In my time, we have never had the administration read a story prior to publication,” he said. “They have never asked to see one prior to publication. It’s been a very good relationship. They’ve certainly commented on some stories but have never interfered.”
