Dear Representatives,
My name is Tyler Arden and I am the former Editor-in-Chief of Reno High School’s newspaper The Red & Blue. I
was recognized as the 2016 Nevada High School Journalist of the Year and runner-up for the national title by the
Journalism Education Association. Additionally, I’ve had the honor to represent the state as part of a select group of
nation’s top student journalists at a Newseum Institute sponsored conference. Based on my experiences as a student
journalist, I encourage you to pass Senate Bill 420.
Student journalism is not fake news. That said, it most certainly becomes compromised when school administrators
can block stories they don’t personally agree with. Now more than ever, a free and open discussion of political and
sometimes controversial subjects within the school community is paramount. It’s worth noting that the law would
not have schools or their employees endorse student speech. Neither would they be held liable for such speech.
Instead, it merely protects the basic principle of free speech and ensures open discourse during times when it is
needed most.
During my tenure as Editor of The Red & Blue, my colleagues and myself reported on a variety of issues from
uniform proposals to student protests. Our coverage allowed for a dialogue on campus built on facts and not rumors.
The conversation was largely centered on the information reported on in our fair and accurate coverage of the issues.
I saw students turn to our publication expecting and relying on such coverage, something we could provide no
guarantee of given the current law. There was nothing inhibiting my school’s administration from censoring our
stories or punishing the publication if they desired to steer the conversation in their direction. The law would ensure
that administrators can only censor student media in instances where they can exhibit a likely “substantial
disruption.” Political and controversial topics would not be sufficient, and neither would criticism of the school or its
administration.
If left unchanged, there will remain a constant fear looming over our student journalists. If we say something
unfavorable or put our nose where administrators arbitrarily believe we don’t belong, they can and likely will silence
us. It is critical for our state’s aspiring journalists to not begin practicing in a climate where they have a fear to
question those in power. Passing the legislation would help ensure that the next generation of journalists won’t cave
and pull their stories after the slightest pressure is placed upon them. Further as resources at professional
publications decline and shift away from watching over public schools, student journalists must have the same
freedoms and protections to fill their void.
As a current undergraduate student in higher education, I can attest that the importance of such free and open
discourse only intensifies. The law would afford these same protections to students like myself enrolled at the state’s
public colleges and universities. It would be non-optional for those institutions to enact it.
While it may seem like the current law is adequate, that is not the case. For student journalists, these specific
protections are something people don’t think they need until it is too late. For these reasons, I urge you to pass
Senate Bill 420.
Thank you for your time and consideration of this opinion.
Sincerely,
Tyler Arden
My name is Jenika Chiang and I am a first-year college student pursuing a degree in journalism
and media studies at UNLV. I am for the proposed bill, SB420, sponsored by Sen. Nicole
Cannizzaro. This bill would impact me in a positive way, as it would extend press freedom to
students working in school publications. As a student journalist and editor, I feel responsible for
the editorial content that is published in my publication. SB420 would not only give me more
responsibility over editorial content but allow other members of my staff to act more
independently as an organization. I believe promising high school and college students the
protection of their right of expression as student journalists gives them a purpose to serve their
community. After all, these publications are meant to serve their respective community.
Censorship limits the publication’s ability to connect and serve its community because it blocks
them from creating an open, honest dialogue on their campus. Having the freedom to write any
story I am interested in, free from censorship, gives me a greater understanding of what it
means to be a journalist without limitations. My purpose is to serve my student body and local
community by reporting news and relevant information--and I can’t do that if I do not have full
responsibility over editorial content. By moving from the Hazelwood Standard to the Tinker
Standard, student journalists would then be able to exercise their constitutional duty in school to
prepare them for the reality that faces them after graduation. The limits of free speech in high
school and colleges hides students from the real world when they should be prepping for the
reality that awaits them.
Hello, I’m Alexis Drevetzki, a student journalist at Southwest CTA, a magnet high school here in
Las Vegas. I have been a member of my school’s publication throughout my entire high school
career, the last two years acting as the co-Editor-in-Chief. These last four years, I have been
immersed in scholastic journalism; from attending several conventions across the country that
host thousands of students, to interacting with my staff daily to ensure we are always publishing
content, and continually involving myself with the community to gather information, I have quite
a bit of experience regarding this subject.
I’m writing this testimony to urge you to approve of the New Voices legislation, SB420. This bill
will allow student journalists, such as myself, to have greater autonomy and the ability to fully
exercise their first amendment rights.
I’m fortunate to attend a school that allows my staff to express their opinions. We have pieces
regarding a staff member’s coming out, as well as her experiences with racial stereotyping, and
we cover topics related to politics and social issues that don’t always bode well in popular
media. However, there are schools all over Nevada where this isn’t the case, and there have
even been instances where our articles were not allowed to be published. For example, my
fellow EIC once wrote a review about a restaurant, and the owner of said restaurant is a
sponsor of our school’s culinary program. Because my friend spoke her truth, being honest with
the audience of her opinion of the restaurant, which included some critiques, she was required
to take it down. Moments like these are the reason we need this bill passed.
If a student journalist wants to publish their opinions on something as expansive as abortion,
President Donald Trump, or LGBTQ rights, or as mundane as new cafeteria food, an event at
school, or their favorite band, then no matter the topic, our student journalists should feel they
have the ability to cover these ideas. No journalist should have to question if their first
amendment right, guaranteed in our constitution, will be tested. Even though we may not be at
the same level as the adults in this field, we still deserve the same rights and the ability to feel
as if we belong in this profession.
The passage of this bill will ensure that my staff can continue to churn out pieces that they feel
represented by, and the thousands of other student journalists in Nevada will not have to worry
about their rights being revoked. No person should have their rights violated. The media is a
crucial component of every community, and journalists are the cornerstone of offering
information. Backed by this bill, scholastic journalists in Nevada will finally feel they have a
respected voice within their community.
Joseph P. Juliano
April 1, 2017
Dear Representatives,
As an educator and a constituent, I urge you to support Senate Bill 420 proposed by Senator
Cannizzaro on March 20, 2017. If passed, the bill would revise provisions governing student
publications in Nevada public schools. This bill would require school boards to “adopt a written
policy relating to the distribution of and right of expression for pupils working as journalists on
pupil publications”.
As a social studies teacher for Clark County School District, I believe strongly in encouraging
student discourse and creating an atmosphere that encourages students to express their views
without fear of arbitrary action from administrators. This bill will allow students the ability to
challenge possible violations to their freedom of speech and create a clearly defined framework
for dealing with reasonable “time, place and manner” restrictions. Recent court cases like
Hazelwood do not give the proper deference to the rights that students have under the 1st and 14th
Amendments. This bill is a step in the right direction toward respecting the rights of all citizens,
including students in school, to freely engage in the reporting and commentary on issues that
they feel strongly about.
Passing this bill will also send a vital message about the value of the 1st Amendment in our state
and our country as a whole. In the current atmosphere of political polarization and attacks on the
media, protecting the ability of our students to engage in open and critical discourse about
controversial issues is not only a relevant interest, it’s a very important one. If we are going to
teach our kids that their voices matter and that their government protects their rights, we need to
follow through on those claims by creating a legal process that empowers students to challenge
their rights.
It is for these reasons that I ask you to support SB 420. Thank you for your consideration.
Sincerely,
Joseph Juliano
Social Studies Department Chairperson
Southwest Career & Technical Academy
MATTHEW LAPORTE
To whom it may concern,
My name is Matthew LaPorte and I am the Journalism Education Association State Director for Nevada, Co-Director for the
Southern Nevada Society of Journalists, and the faculty adviser for the Southwest Shadow Online News Site and The Howl
yearbook at Southwest Career and Technical Academy in Las Vegas. The following is my personal testimony in support of
SB420.
For the last eight years, I have enjoyed the privilege of working with teenagers looking to tell great stories at my school. These
stories have run the gamut: students dealing with sickle-cell anemia, tattoos, the questioning of AP exam costs, what it feels like to
come out to your parents … the list goes on and on. These stories are authentic, real, and above all, the products of students.
Because of my student’s ability to practice scholastic journalism as a public open forum without prior review, they have enjoyed
the privilege to pursue stories that they feel meet the needs of their audience and align with the mission of their respective
publications. Having the ability to choose, research, interview, and publish journalism of their choosing has provided them
experiences that have taught them lessons that have extended into their lives, both inside and outside of the school walls.
And while my students enjoy this privilege, they know that this would not be the case if they were operating under prior review.
Because of a supportive school administration, my students were allowed to found their publication in 2009 as an open-forum,
operating as an independent entity. However, in other schools, which have been designated as “prior review” publications, those
students and advisers have encountered the chilling effect of, “Is our administration going to allow us to print this story?” This
interrupts the journalistic process and removes most of the outcomes that advisers are trying to provide for their students: the
opportunity to understand and enjoy the First Amendment, grow their critical thinking skills, and learn what it’s like to make tough
decisions in a collaborative environment. I cannot say that my students would be gaining all of the skills and experiences that I
want for them to have if they were constantly fearing the worst: heavy censorship or complete removal of their work.
If the Nevada New Voices Law passes, it will open doors for school publications that have not had the opportunity to operate in
the best way possible: free. Moreover, with this freedom will come a new set of prepared students gaining the skills and
experiences to help them reach their life goals, which will benefit our community. Whether that be as police officers having to
make quick, informed decisions, corporate leaders who have to delegate and guide their team, or professional journalists ensuring
that authentic, ethical, factual and un-biased stories are told, every career path can benefit from the skills learned as journalists.
Please help these students gain the privilege to really prepare them for the real world – and to feel the same pride that my
students have been able to enjoy. Sincerely,
Mr. Matthew LaPorte
Donna Levy
April 2, 2017
SUPPORT FOR SB 420
As a public high school principal, I feel it is profoundly important that students are afforded all of
their inalienable rights as defined by the Constitution of the United States of America. One of the
rights guaranteed is the freedom of expression.
As adults, it is important that we model behaviors that set proper expectations for our youth.
Encouraging written/oral expression, even if it is in opposition to our held beliefs is not only
important, it is the only way to ensure that democracy continues.
Please support SB420, and guarantee our students have the right to freely express themselves without
fear of reprisal or suppression.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Donna Levy
April 2, 2017 To Whom It May Concern: As an assistant principal of a high school in the Clark County School District, I believe support for NV SB420 should not be in question. Is there a better opportunity to teach students about their civic duty than to entrust them with the responsibility of press freedom? I think not. Students need to know that school is a safe place for them to explore, question, and express their opinions, especially in student media, without fear of their First Amendment rights being violated. I cannot imagine a better environment to demonstrate the importance of our Constitutional rights and freedoms in action – a true, life-­‐lesson for our students – where they can see how what they learn in school applies to “real life.” High school journalists have to be given the opportunity to express themselves freely in order to understand the power of our freedoms guaranteed by our Constitution and how that power can truly make a difference in our world. School administrators need to embrace these rights and empower their students to function under their Constitutional freedoms, not squelch students’ rights because they walked through the schoolhouse doors. Sincerely, Trish Taylor
Trish Taylor Assistant Principal My name is Lizabeth Walsh. I am the yearbook adviser at Reno High School. I have taught for 25
years in both private and public schools, and I have held both Certified and Master Journalism
Educator designations from the Journalism Education Association since 2000.
This year is quite special to me because we have this new piece of legislation for you, our elected
lawmakers, to consider and vote into law.
After the 1969 Tinker v. Des Moines ruling determined that students do not shed their rights at the
schoolhouse gate, student journalists enjoyed learning how to responsibly exercise their First
Amendment rights in student-sponsored publications for 19 years. Sadly, the 1988 Hazelwood v.
Kuhlmeier decision removed that valuable educational tool from many states’ public educational
systems, Nevada being one of them.
New Voices returns the exercise of First Amendment rights to students that the Tinker court case
gave them, holding student journalists responsible for accurately and fairly researching and
interviewing, writing, editing, and publishing stories that inform and educate their public school
peers.
When students are empowered, their performance and engagement skyrockets in many areas
because they begin to understand that their work product, their effort, their time matters, not just to
them, but to everyone around them. The difference between a censored schoolchild and a properly
educated student is the discrepancy we see between a powerless creature and an effective free
thinker.
Students need to learn to be responsible, and they must do so in a laboratory that supports and
nourishes this behavior. The journalism classroom does this very thing; it provides a place for
students to learn and grow as active participants in their communities; however, if we steal the
opportunity to learn by stealing the responsibility for the work from them, we have lost every
chance to teach our future citizens how to be responsible citizens. How can we claim to educate our
students if we steal an education from them?
If Nevada wants to continue to create opportunity for economic growth, one of the steps it can take
is to strengthen the educational system Nevada provides for its students (and this will cost us
nothing!). New Voices gives us the chance to do this. Ten states (Arkansas, California, Colorado,
Iowa, Kansas, Oregon, Massachusetts, North Dakota, Maryland, and Illinois) are already allowing
the students enrolled in public school publications to control their own content, relieving the school
administrators in those states of the responsibility of controlling the message of student publications
and empowering young journalists to do their very best ethical and responsible work in each
publication, knowing that their publications are entirely theirs. They have strengthened the quality of
education they offer to their students. Should we not do the same? It costs the state nothing but the
time to vote this bill into law. There is no financial impact for making this state’s journalism
education a powerful tool in creating an educated citizenry.
Twenty other states, in addition to Nevada, are in the process of considering similar legislation that
will return the power of responsibility where it belongs, to the hands of educated and accountable
student publications staffs, taught by educated and responsible journalism educators and advisers.
This is an exciting opportunity for our students. If Nevada students are to receive a comprehensive
education that will prepare them for life as active American citizens, each student will need to
understand that censorship has no place in the free exchange of ideas that allows our democracy to
operate.
You are an American and a Nevadan. As such, please think about these situations: How you might
feel if your voice were silenced? How you would react if you had to pass each bit of your own work
by a censor? How you would act if you knew your opinions and efforts were not valued?
If you believe that your voice, your work, and your opinion count, then you believe that our Nevada
students’ voices, work, and efforts also count, and you will see that there is only one choice for this
legislation: You must vote to make this bill into a law.
Atley Weems
SB420
The job of a reporter is to disperse news to a group of individuals. The First Amendment
of the United States Bill of Rights was partly put in place to protect the press from being denied
their freedom of speech. Yet, this amendment has been misconstrued through various court cases
in which the freedom of speech has been increasingly limited as time has progressed. From
Brandenburg v Ohio to Miller v California, the idea of free speech has been narrowed in order to
meet the value of the common good. However, the speech of students is among the most limited
of all. Next to military officials, students rarely have an opportunity to express themselves how
they choose to without consequence. While dress codes are an appropriate means of limited
student expression, the limitation of student press is unacceptable under the Hazelwood standard.
If students are held under the standard of Hazelwood, they are restricted by possible
biases that can come with the claimed “pedagogical concerns” from teachers and administrative
bodies. The Hazelwood standard is flawed in the respect that it isn’t narrowly tailored enough to
be a constructive means to limit student press. A pedagogical concern can mean almost anything,
and opens the door to bias of teachers, and the school. Students who are required to take out
valid news from their publications aren’t the only ones who are suffering. The quality of news
that is taught in high school, and even in college is the quality that will be reflected in the future.
If students believe in writing to appeal to people rather than to educate them, they will become
faulty reporters in the future. These students will never be able to value a story for its facts, but
rather fall in love with the art of writing a bias piece. Such a mindset births the cries against fake
news and the undeniable bias that is seen today. Today people are begging for a valid news
source, but aren’t realizing that a valid news source is learned in school, or at least should be,
and under the Hazelwood standard this isn’t possible.
The voices seen in the current high school and college publications should be respected
as journalistic voices like any other, with respect to safeguards that are seen in Morse v
Frederick among other narrowly tailored limitations. However, they will never be respected if
administrators can limit them under a broad “pedagogical concern.” Legal scholar Akhil Reed
Amar once wrote that the First Amendment allows a new majority to “emerge in the future,” but
with the current limitations on student speech this majority cannot be made, or will be created
under unsatisfactory means that result in news that is no longer news. This isn’t what we want.
We want a news source that promotes news: stories that are prominent, have conflict, invoke
human interest, and tell a story that is honest.
As a staff reporter, editor, and Co-Editor in Chief of my high school newspaper of Reno
High School, I’m thankful that my principal allows my advisor, Christy Briggs to monitor what
we publish. Christy Briggs is a teacher that fights for her students to be better through writing
what is important and accurate. She is constantly asking us the most important question that
comes with writing news: “Who cares?” Not every student that is involved in their school’s press
is as lucky as I am, though. Students can be subjected to unbending bias that distorts their papers
and their credibility beyond belief. For this reason, there needs to be a more direct standard to
limit student speech than a broad, subjective concern.
Despite how emotional this argument can grow to be, we must also recognize that
Hazelwood v Kuhlmeier isn’t valid through other cases that have preceded it. Morse v Frederick
stands as an example in which the school had a pedagogical concern that is directly addressed
through the case, and for that reason the limitation of Frederick’s “Bong Hits 4 Jesus” banner
isn’t negatively impacting the speech of student press. Beussink v Woodland, a 1998 case that
isn’t often recognized, held that, “disliking or being upset by the content of student speech is not
an acceptable justification for limiting student speech under Tinker.” This is important to
recognize because the Hazelwood rule makes it acceptable in most cases to limit speech of
students simply because it is disliked or upsetting to a group of people. It is dangerous because
students don’t fight this because they believe that this is normal. This standard isn’t normal, it
doesn’t hold enough weight to help the students, but instead pushes their writing further back.
If students continue to be held under Hazelwood, they cannot be expected to grow to be
better reporters, and the news cannot be expected to improve. The change starts with the
education of journalism students. Students need to be taught how to write real, unbiased news in
order to create their majority in the future as one that is honest and intellectual. For this reason, I
believe that New Voices is a step in the right direction for high school students.
Nevada Assembly Education Committee
Testimony of Patrick C. File, Ph.D., Assistant Prof., Media Law, University of
Nevada, Reno
For committee hearing, May 8, 2017
Thank you for the opportunity to testify in favor of SB 420, a bill which would clarify the
First Amendment rights of student journalists in Nevada public schools. I’m testifying as
a former high school and college student journalist, a supporter of student journalism, and
expert on First Amendment issues. I should note I am not here representing the
University of Nevada, Reno, where I conduct research and teach classes on media law,
media ethics, and media history at the School of Journalism.
In my testimony today I want to highlight three broad points about the purpose of SB 420
and why you should support it. I welcome your questions about my remarks or the
particulars of the bill or proposed amendments.
First, SB 420 will add needed clarity to the law about when student journalists can
be restrained from publishing, or disciplined for publishing. For about 30 years,
thanks to a U.S. Supreme Court decision known as Hazelwood, school administrators
have been allowed to censor or discipline student journalists when they can assert a
“legitimate pedagogical purpose” for doing so. Across the board, journalism education
groups and the 10 states that have adopted their own standards since that decision agree
that this standard lacks clarity and tends to undermine quality journalism education.
Nevada students, their advisers, and even school administrators will tell you that we
would benefit from a clearer standard which places editorial decisions in the hands of
student editors.
Second, SB 420 empowers student media to be the responsible, accountable engine
of engaged citizenship that it should be. By encouraging students to research, report,
verify, and discuss the issues that matter to them in an open, public forum, we encourage
them to be more responsible, more media literate, and more civically engaged. Recent
research supports this. A 2015 University of Kansas study of 900 high school students
found that students in schools that are supportive of First Amendment rights are more
civically empowered. SB 420 is complementary to many of the civics education
initiatives already underway in Nevada and around the country. But if we teach students
the practices of a healthy democracy but don’t empower them to take their rights
seriously and engage in those practices themselves, we fail to actually develop more
informed and engaged citizens.
Third, while relatively few Nevada students or teachers will say their student media
are heavily censored, the vague current standards create a chilling effect on student
free speech and civic engagement. I have asked student journalists anonymously what
they would publish if they knew they wouldn’t face discipline or judgment. What they
don’t say is that they would hash out their personal quarrels in the pages of the student
newspaper, or publish things like obscenity, libel, threats or incitement, which SB 420
wouldn’t protect anyway. Instead, they tell you they would report on school safety or
effectiveness issues or other subtle problems often occurring below the radar of the
principal’s office. The fact that students have answers to this question—that their fear
prevents them from addressing these issues—shows you the chilling effect of our vague
current standard. More alarmingly, this self-censorship disproportionately affects young
women. A 2016 study by University of Kansas researchers found that of 461 high school
students surveyed, only 27% of male students said they avoided certain topics because
they feared a negative reaction, compared to 53% of female students. Notably, journalism
classes in high school and college are often majority female by a wide margin.
In teaching my own classes on the First Amendment, I have seen these chilling effects
close up, as many of my students generally know the basics of how the law protects their
free speech rights, but they get a little stuck on why—they have relatively little to say
about the concrete ways those rights can be used to advance the public good. I would
argue that this is because they haven’t been empowered enough to put those principles
into practice. Even more interesting is a split I sometimes see between students who went
to high school in California and those who went to high school in Nevada. Sometimes
Nevada students will share stories about times their school stopped them from reporting
on issues that were deemed too controversial or would make the school look bad. The
students from California, where Hazelwood has never been the standard and yet problems
almost never arise from rogue student journalists, are confused: what’s the point of
school censorship? What are the schools afraid will happen?
Finally, if you’ll indulge me, I’d like to end with a story. You might know that Earl
Wooster was a celebrated Nevada educator: a high school principal in Dayton, Wells,
Winnemucca, and at Reno High; Washoe County Schools’ first superintendent; and
executive secretary of the Nevada State Educational Association from 1959 to 1965. Earl
grew up in California, and in 1915 was about to graduate from Fresno High School. In
the spring of his senior year, he gave a speech expressing concerns about the lack of
emergency exits in the school assembly hall, which he said was a safety risk. The school
board, angry about the public denunciation, refused to award him his diploma unless he
retracted the speech. Earl refused, saying that he had spoken the truth. In fact he sued the
school, saying they had violated his free speech rights, making him one of the first
students to bring such a lawsuit. In 1915, the federal courts had not yet ruled that the First
Amendment applied to state and local governments through the 14th Amendment, so Earl
lost his suit, and had to go back and beg the school district for his diploma so he could
pursue his career in education at the University of Nevada.
Recently, a student in one of my classes told me when he was a senior in high school he
was stopped from publishing a story about his school’s policies of locking outside doors
while also shortening the time students had to pass between classes. He said his reporting
raised some safety concerns about the policy, and he was told he couldn’t pursue it. That
student was a proud graduate of Earl Wooster High School, in Reno. It seems like it’s
high time to encourage, rather than discourage, inquisitive, active, responsible, and
accountable student journalists in Nevada.
I sincerely appreciate your time and invite your questions.
Patrick C. File, Ph.D.
Patrick C. File Testimony | SB 420
2
Citations, Additional Resources
“New research finds female high school journalists bear the burden of censorship,” Active
Voice, March 10, 2016; http://theactivevoice.org/?p=195
“Civic Engagement Among High School Journalists,” study available at
http://civicsandjournalists.org/category/findings/
“Earl Wooster: Memoirs of a Nevada Educator,” University of Nevada Oral History
Archive, pp. 3-4
http://contentdm.library.unr.edu/cdm/ref/collection/unohp/id/2552/
More information, including endorsements from various professional journalism and
education groups for legal clarity beyond the Hazelwood standard is available at:
http://newvoicesus.com/other-resources/
Patrick C. File Testimony | SB 420
3
Protecting the Truth
My testimony in support of SB 420
By: Lauren Draper
Dear Assembly Education Committee Members,
First of all, as a former high school journalist, I would like to thank you all for your time today as
you take into consideration a senate bill very close to my heart. Here is my testimony in support
of SB 420.
As a high school journalist, I strived to remain balanced and fair in each article I wrote. I
constantly asked myself if an article did more good than harm and I attempted to present every
angle of a story. Even as a 17-year-old student, I took pride in my work and lived by the Society
of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics. I sought the truth and reported it, carefully presented
the facts, and took responsibility for the accuracy of the articles I wrote.
Less than six months from graduating Churchill County High School, I found myself terrified.
Not by the typical fears a high school student has of getting into a dream college or leaving home
for the first time, but rather by a lawsuit filed against my school district, high school principle,
student media adviser and local newspaper – all as a result of an article I wrote for the school
newspaper, The Flash.
After I sought and reported the truth about choir students’ audition tapes being withheld from a
statewide competition, I found myself frightened and confused about whether I had made the
right decision in writing the article. I was truly chilled. I followed the code of ethics and made no
libelous claims, yet I felt guilty and ashamed of reporting the truth. I was shamed by teachers I
had respected and was called a “zealous child” by the co-chair of the Churchill County Educators
Association.
I would have had more hope and less fear during that trying time if SB 420 had been in place.
Influenced by the student-powered legislative campaign New Voices, SB 420 can empower
students to use their First Amendment rights to gather and share information about issues of
public concern. North Dakota, Illinois and Maryland recently adopted the laws, extending
greater protection to the students that use those rights and the teachers and advisers that defend
them.
By good fortune, the Churchill County School District upheld the First Amendment by allowing
my article, “Choirgate,” to be published, even absent of SB 420. In August 2010, a Nevada court
ruled that the choir teacher could not sue over the true statements in my article. However, many
students and student media advisers are not as lucky in their attempts to publish the truth, due to
a 30-year-old U.S. Supreme Court decision that says schools can censor student media when they
can assert a “legitimate pedagogical purpose” for doing so. School principals and constitutional
lawyers alike have struggled ever since to determine how to apply this vague standard, often
resulting in the censorship to truthful student speech that serves the public interest, like my story.
With SB 420 in place, this unnecessary censorship may be avoided and the truth can finally be
presented through well-researched student written publications to the public.
According to New Voices USA’s website, “Students are the ‘embedded journalists’ letting their
communities know how effectively schools are performing.” Attempts to prevent my story from
going to press were meant to stop the truth from reaching the public. Like North Dakota, Illinois
and Maryland, Nevada should embrace the opportunity to restore protection of the students’
fundamental right to free speech through SB 420, thus encouraging them to seek and report the
truth instead of being terrified to do so.
I would like to thank you for your time today and your consideration of SB 420.
Lauren Draper
To read more about the New Voices campaign, you can visit newvoicesus.com.
TestimonyofFrankD.LoMonte,medialawyer,Washington,D.C.
NevadaSenateBill420(Sen.Cannizzaro)
AssemblyCommitteeonEducation
SubmittedforcommitteehearingofMay8,2017
IthankSenatorCannizzarofortheinvitationtosharesomeinformationaboutthe
workingsofstudentpress-rightsstatuteswiththecommittee.Thistestimonyisdrawn
frommy17yearsofexperienceasanattorney,thelastninespentasexecutivedirectorof
theStudentPressLawCenter,anonprofitlegal-servicesorganizationservingtheneedsof
studentjournalistsandeducatorsnationwide.Ihavestudiedandwrittenabouttheselaws
formanyyears,includingauthoringtwoeditionsofatextbook,“LawoftheStudentPress,”
thatisthemostwidelyusedreferencemanualinthefieldofscholasticjournalism.Ihave
taughtmedialawatthecollegelevelsince2014asaninstructorwiththeUniversityof
Georgia.InmyroleattheSPLC,Isuperviseanattorneyhotlinethatreceivessome2,500
callsforlegalassistanceyearlyfromstudentsnationwide,manyhundredsofwhomare
experiencingrestraintsontheirabilitytogatherandpublishnews.
Thelegalprotectionthatisaffordedtostudentjournaliststodayunderfederallawis
imbalancedandiswidelyrecognizedasinadequatefortheeffectiveteachingofsound
journalisticvaluesandpractices.TheSupremeCourt’s1988Hazelwoodrulinghas
effectivelyremovedallfederalprotectionfortherightsofstudentsinjournalisticmedia.
Afternearly30yearsofexperienceunderHazelwood,everyleadingauthorityinthefieldof
journalismeducation–botheducatorsandprofessionalpractitionersalike–agreesthat
therightamountofpressfreedomineducationalinstitutionscannotbe“zero.”TheSociety
ofProfessionalJournalists,theAmericanSocietyofNewsEditors,theNationalCouncilof
TeachersofEnglishandmanyothersuchorganizationshavecalledonstatestoreformthe
Hazelwoodstandard,becauseyoungpeoplearegraduatingunpreparedtohaveeducated
conversationsaboutthesocialandpoliticalissuesthatcensorshiprestrainsthemfrom
discussing.
Thisgrowingconsensushasfueledanationalmovementknownas“NewVoices,”to
enactstatutesthatbringthegovernanceofstudentmediabacktothesensiblemiddle
groundthatexistedbeforeHazelwoodwasdecided.Tenstatesnowhavelawscomparable
toSB420protectingtheabilityofstudentstopublishthelawfulandnon-disruptive
1
editorialcontentoftheirchoice.PennsylvaniaandtheDistrictofColumbiaofferthesame
levelofprotectionbywayofStateBoardofEducationrule.One-thirdofallhigh-school
studentsinAmericahavethelevelofprotectiontodaythatiscontemplatedinSB420,so
thereisnothingexperimentalorunprovenaboutstudentpressfreedom.Thecombined
experienceofthesejurisdictioncoversmorethan180years,andinthose180years,no
“horribles”whatsoeverhavematerialized.Indeed,thereisnotasinglecaseavailableinany
ofthepubliclyavailabledatabasesofcourtrecordsdatingbacktwocenturiesinwhicha
schoolhasbeenorderedtopayanyoneadollarforharmfulmaterialpublishedbystudent
journalists.AndNewVoiceslawsstrengthen,notweaken,theliabilityprotectionfor
schoolsbyclarifyingthatthespeechofstudentsisnotthespeechoftheirschools.
NewVoiceslawsdonotresultinstudentsprolificallysuingtheirschoolsover
censorship.AstudypublishedintheMaineLawReviewin2013foundonlysixdocumented
instancesinwhichaNewVoicesstatutehadeverbeencitedinapublishedcourtruling
(subsequentto2013,therehasbeenaseventhcase,atacollegeinIllinois).Itisour
experiencethatNewVoicesstatutesavoid,ratherthancause,litigationbecausetheyclarify
theboundariesofschoolandcollegeauthorityandsimplifytheresolutionofdisputes.
NewVoiceslegislationlikeSenateBill420israpidlyadvancingacrossthecountry.
Lastyear,IllinoisandMarylandoverwhelminglypassedlegislationfunctionallyidenticalto
SB420,andthispastFriday,May5,Vermont’sHouseandSenateunanimouslypassedand
senttothegovernorabillthatwillmakeVermontthe11thstatewithaNewVoicesstatute.
SimilarbillsareontrackforfinalpassagethisweekinArizonaandMissouri.Ineachstate,
thesebillshavebeenpassingwithoverwhelmingbipartisansupport,becauseofthe
growingrecognitionthatjournalisminschoolsandcollegescannolongerbegovernedby
1980s-erastandardsinthedigitalage.
Legislativereformsaretimelybecausestudentsatthehigh-schoollevelregularly
reportbeingforbiddenfrompublishingnewsandopinionaboutissuesofsocialand
politicalconcern.InaMarch2017journalarticle(“MixedMessageMedia:Girls’Voicesand
CivicEngagementinStudentJournalism”),UniversityofKansasresearchersPeter
BobkowskiandGenelleBelmasdocumenttheirfindingsfromafall2015surveyof491
high-schooljournalismstudentsacrossNorthCarolina.Thatsurveyfoundthat38percent
ofstudentshadbeentoldthatentiretopicswerecategoricallyoff-limitsfordiscussionin
2
studentjournalisticpublications,themostcommonbeingdrugoralcoholabuse.TheKU
studyfurtherfoundthatfemalestudentsweresignificantlymorelikelythanmalestudents
toreportbothdirectcensorshipaswellas“self-censorship”inanticipationofadverse
reactionfromauthorityfigures.Morethanhalf(53percent)offemalestudentssaidthey
hadrefrainedfromevenattemptingtowriteaboutanissueofimportancetothem,
expectingtobecensored.
Whiledirectactsofinstitutionalcensorshiparenotascommonplaceatthe
postsecondarylevel,collegestudentjournalistsarebynomeansimmune.InaDecember
2016study(“ThreatstotheIndependenceofStudentMedia”),theAmericanAssociationof
UniversityProfessorsdocumentedmultiplecasesofretaliatorydischargesofcollege
facultytopunishthemforstudents’journalisticworkthatprovokedcontroversyor
portrayedtheinstitutioninanunflatteringlight,includingcasesatButlerUniversity,
NorthernMichiganUniversityandFairmontStateUniversity,amongothers.
Becausethisquestionhasariseninotherstates,Iwanttoaddresstheissueofhowa
statestatutecan“override”aU.S.SupremeCourtdecision.WhentheSupremeCourtissues
arulingontheconstitutionalrightsofindividuals,theCourtissettingafloorforstatesand
notaceiling.TheHazelwoodrulingcanbesummarizedas:“Studentshavethefederally
protectedrighttospeakin‘curricular’studentmediaunlesstheschoolcanpresenta
justificationforcensorshipthatis‘reasonablyrelatedtolegitimatepedagogicalconcerns.’”
NothinginHazelwoodprecludesastatefromofferingstate-protectedrightsthat
supplementfederallyprotectedrights.Thereisno“inconsistency”betweentheHazelwood
rulingandastatelawlikeSB420thatextendstostudentsthebenefitofadditionalstateprotectedpressfreedoms.
NewVoicesstatutesdonotputtherightsofstudentjournalistsonparwiththoseof
professionalsatTheWallStreetJournal.TheSupremeCourthassaidthatnothingshortof
leakingmilitarybattleplansduringwartimecouldjustifyrestrainingthedistributionofa
professionalnewspaper.NewVoicesprotectionismuchmorelimited.NewVoicesstatutes
simplyrestoretheprotectionthatexistedbeforeHazelwoodunderthelegalprinciplesset
forthbytheSupremeCourtinTinkerv.DesMoines.Tinkerhasbeenthelawofthelandfor
48years.Itisthestandardthatappliestodaytostudents’baseballcaps,T-shirtsandall
otherpersonalcommunications.Anythingthataschoolcouldlawfullystopastudentfrom
3
4sayingonaT-shirt(includegangsymbols,threats,obscenityorotherdisruptivespeech)
canequallybewithheldfromstudentnewsmediaunderSB420.
Wehavebeenconsultedforhelpinpreparingamendmentsthatwillbeofferedin
committeetoperfectSB420tobringitsprotectionsintolinewiththoseintheother“New
Voicesstates,”specifically(1)toremoveanysuggestionthatitismandatorythatschool
authoritiespre-approveallstudentmediabeforepublication(surveysnationallyhave
consistentlyshownthatfewerthanone-thirdofhighschooladministratorschooseto
exercise“priorreview,”somakingthepracticemandatorywouldbeadeviationfrom
acceptedprofessionalpractice),and(2)toremoveanysuggestionthatdisciplinary
consequencesarerequiredifstudentssubmitlegallyunprotectedmaterialforpublication
(existingdisciplinarycodesalreadydealwithdisruptivespeechorbehavior,andthe
suggestionthatadditionaldisciplinarysanctionsarerequiredcouldintimidatejournalists
fromevensubmittinganarticleforconsiderationiftheyfearthataschooldisciplinarian
mightregardthearticleashavingdisruptivepotential).Withtheseamendments,Nevada
wouldhaveoneofthemostcomprehensivelawsinthecountryprotectingtheabilityof
youngpeopletosafelycommentonissuesofpublicconcernandto“blowthewhistle”on
substandardconditionsintheirinstitutions.
Hazelwoodisarelicofatimewhenitmighthavebeenpossibletokeepstudents
fromlearningaboutteenagepregnancybytearingpagesoutofpapernewspapers.Of
course,thatisnottheworldweliveintoday.Today’syoungpeoplearebombardedwith
onlinegossip,rumorandfabrication.Bywelcomingthediscussionofpoliticalandsocial
issuesintothepagesofstudentmedia,thoseissuescanbedebatedinaverified,supervised
way–withfact-checking,withbalanceandwithaccountability,noneofwhichexistsif
censorshippushesthediscussionontosocialmedia.Journalismisnotaproblemfor
schools,itisasolution.NewVoiceslawsrecognizethisnewreality.
Respectfullysubmitted,
FrankD.LoMonte,Esq.
4
Nevada Assembly Committee
Testimony of Steve Ranson,
General Manager /Editor of the Lahontan Valley News
Fallon, Nevada.
Past president of the Nevada Press Association.
Retired English teacher / journalism adviser
For Committee hearing, May 8, 2017
I would like to thank the committee for allowing me to testify in favor of SB 420,
which is now with the Assembly. This bill would provide more clarification to the
First Amendment rights of Nevada’s public-school student journalists. I am
testifying in support of student journalism in three different capacities: (1) Current
newspaper editor of the Lahontan Valley News; (2) past president of the Nevada
Press Association and incoming president of the International Society of Weekly
Newspaper Editors; (3) and as a retired educator who taught young journalists and
advised the student publications at both at Wells High School in Wells, Nevada, and
Churchill County High School in Fallon, Nevada. My testimony today will cover the
three roles I have previously mentioned.
(1) Under my leadership as editor of the Lahontan Valley News in January 2010, the
newspaper supported the rights of student journalist Lauren McLean, who had
researched, written and published an article dealing with the selection of CCHS
students for the state honor choir. The school administration also supported her
right to publish the article despite the objections of the Churchill County Education
Association. Through a series of articles, columns and editorials, the LVN supported
both the First Amendment right of Ms. McLean to exercise her right as a student
journalist and the Churchill County School District — to include former
Superintendent Carolyn Ross and high-school principal Kevin Lords — for their
unwavering support despite the threat of a lawsuit or grievance; ultimately, the
teacher in question sued the journalism instructor, school district and me for
publishing an article on this story and for publishing the student article on the LVN
website. SB 420,therefore, would clarify the law when students journalists would be
restrained from publishing or disciplined for publishing articles, especially when
those articles are truthful, yet perceived by teachers or the administration as
embarrassing.
(2) As the immediate past president of the Nevada Press Association and incoming
president of the International Society of Weekly Newspaper Editors, I am here in an
official capacity to inform this committee that these two organizations support SB
420. The NPA supports a free press and a student journalist’s right to publish an
article that is factual and responsible without fear of censorship. Case in point:
Kansas high-school students wrote an article exposing their incoming principal as a
person who had obtained questionable degrees in her career field of education.
Reported the Associated Press: An incoming high school principal has resigned in
Kansas after student reporters investigated and raised questions about her
credentials. The main concern stemmed from her receiving her master's and
doctoral degrees from Corllins University, an unaccredited, online school. Robertson
said she received her degrees before the university lost accreditation. Supt. Destry
Brown praised the student reporters, saying: "I appreciate that our kids ask
questions and don't just accept something because somebody told them." He told
the Pittsburg Morning Sun they "did a great job with the research."
This is an example of student journalists being allowed to research and publish topnotch work, yet stories abound across the United States of superintendents and/or
principals who quash a story which is just as accurate as the Kansas article, because
it is embarrassing.
(3) As a journalism teacher and newspaper adviser, I worked with some of the
brightest students who had a passion for writing. During my tenure at both Wells
and Fallon, I was fortunate to have principals and superintendents who were not
afraid to allow student journalists to discuss issues of the day or afraid I would
make the wrong decision. Never in 13 years did the administration censor one story
or photograph. Like Carolyn Ross and Kevin Lords, they empowered students to
practice democracy and engage themselves as citizens of their school and
community. In fact on one controversial article written on local teenage drug use in
our community in 1988, the principal referred the student to another source for
additional information. As an adviser, I never feared retribution such as loss of my
advisership or teaching job and neither should anyone else who mentors student
journalists. Later, as a secondary school administrator for 10 years in Churchill
County, I would have supported the student journalist if a similar situation like
Lauren McLean’s had occurred.
I have been a strong believer of student responsibility and rights, both as a
professional journalist and educator. SB 420 affords students the ability to “tell the
news as it is” not how an administrator wants it spun. Thank you for your time, and
I invite your questions.
Steven Ranson
General Manager / Editor
Lahontan Valley News
Box 1297
Fallon, NV 89407
[email protected]
References
Associated Press, April 5, 2017: “Principal resigns after high school journalists
investigate her credentials.”
Lahontan Valley News, Fallon, Nevada