The First Amendment gives Americans freedom of speech and press. In 1969, the Tinker v. Des Moines Supreme Court case extended those rights to students. However, 19 years later, the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case pushed back, deciding that school-sponsored publications have fewer First Amendment protections. 

Despite the importance of journalism as an avenue of news and information, covering sensitive topics will elicit opposition, and students are not exempt. Disadvantaged by blurrier lines surrounding their legal rights and differences in state legislation, student journalists across the country struggle with censorship, free speech rights, and ethical writing. 

But more students are realizing the value of their work — and finding ways to fight against threats to press freedom. 

Protecting the story

Student journalists from Mountain View High School’s news site, the Oracle, began working on an in-depth feature about sexual harassment at school in March of 2023.

“The root of the story was to amplify the voices of victims of sexual harassment. We were hearing of many instances at our school that victims felt weren’t properly dealt with,” said Myesha Phukan, a junior at MVHS and Oracle’s print in-depth editor who worked on the story.

So, to learn more about their school’s policies for sexual harassment, Phukan and co-writers reached out to their principal, Kip Glazer, for an interview.

“But after the interview, Dr. Glazer came in to talk to the Oracle as a class. It seemed like she was threatening us in a way. She said that many schools don’t have journalism programs and that we’re lucky to still have one. It felt like an application of her power like she could take it away immediately,” Phukan said.

According to Phukan, Glazer then took the in-depth team to a different room to talk about the article separately.

“She heard from one of the alleged perpetrator’s family that they were concerned that we contacted him to comment on the article. But she seemed very threatening and fear-mongering to us. For example, she talked about how publishing the article would have catastrophic effects on the school and the alleged perpetrator himself, foreshadowing that he had mental health problems and could do something drastic. We agreed to let her do prior review,” Phukan said. 

Upon finishing a draft of the article, Phukan and her co-writers emailed it to Glazer, three days before putting together the paper. 

“She came and talked to us with the article printed out. It was just her, the in-depth team, and our advisor. She didn’t see the need to have certain quotes or specific details, which was very important for us. For example, in the first uncensored version of the article, there was a larger part about an alleged perpetrator stalking a victim and more severe instances of harassment that she wanted us to take out,” Phukan said.

Hayes Duenow, a co-writer of the story, was alone with Glazer after the meeting.

“Hayes said that she said something like ‘If you publish this, it could get really bad for you,’ which we all took as a threat,” Phukan said.

However, according to Phukan, the in-depth team didn’t fully understand censorship or the forms it could take at the time. 

“We didn’t realize it was censorship. I was still a freshman, and Myesha was a sophomore. It was my first time writing an in-depth piece. It was such a crazy series of events that we couldn’t step back and review it. A lot was brushed under the rug,” said Renuka Mungee, a sophomore and assistant in-depth editor who helped edit the story.

According to Mungee, the students were so preoccupied with making sure that nobody got in trouble that they didn’t realize something was wrong. 

“I was just very overwhelmed. When it’s the first big article you’ve ever edited, you’re sitting in a room with your principal, and she’s saying like, ‘Your writing is going to hurt people,’ and then at lunch, you’re on the phone with lawyers, it’s just a scary process for anyone. We abided by what administration wanted because they’re supposed to be role models — people we can trust. If I could go back, I would do so many things differently,” Mungee said.

Glazer did not respond to a request for comment.

Afraid to upset their administration further, the writers published the version of the article that was significantly cut down in April of that year.

The next month, Glazer informed the journalism class that their advisor, Carla Gomez, would be reassigned.

“She said that it was based on her wanting to turn Oracle into part of a CTE curriculum and our advisor not wanting to obtain those credits, which was false. Our advisor told us that she was in the process of getting credits, and the CTE coordinator said that because Oracle was not a CTE course yet, our advisor could still have stayed without credentials for this year,” Phukan said. 

Then, another big change occurred.

“We were made aware that our introduction to journalism class, which teaches the foundational aspects of journalism, was cut. They cited low enrollment. But again, the enrollment was the same as it had been for the past year or so,” Phukan said.

With the class, writers came into Oracle with basic interviewing skills and experience writing articles. But now, students who join aren’t sufficiently prepared.

“One of our main struggles for this year has been helping the few new students we’ve had adapt to Oracle. Only one portion of the class is being taken away to learn writing and interviewing, which is taking away from community building in general,” Phukan said.

Phukan and the in-depth team began reaching out about their experience, writing an op-ed for the Student Press Law Center (SPLC), and speaking with local media publications. 

“We feel like we’re walking on a very thin line with administration even now because we don’t want something like that happening again,” Phukan said.

However, on Feb. 22, 2024, Hanna Olsen, co-editor-in-chief of the Oracle, Duenow, now at UC Riverside, and Gomez filed a lawsuit against the district and Principal Glazer, alleging illegal censorship and retaliation against the journalism program.

“I completely support Hannah, Hayes, and Ms. Gomez in this lawsuit. It’s some form of justice for what we endured last summer. It took a large toll on me, Renuka, the writers, our advisor, and the class in general, which is still being felt to this day. This lawsuit proves that we didn’t forget about it and will still fight for our right to a free press,” Phukan said.

Olsen, Duenow, and Gomez are suing for the reinstatement of the introduction to journalism class and advisor, district admission of censorship, and the publication of the uncensored version of the article. 

“I felt like administration tried to change their tone when interacting with us. For example, just last month, our principal came up to us and talked about how proud she was that we were criticizing administration in a healthy way, which I felt was a little bit hypocritical,” Phukan said.

Still, the experience was enlightening.

“I started getting passionate about student press freedom. I did a summer institute with the SPLC and learned that censorship is illegal in California. At the time, we weren’t aware of the legality of what our principal was doing. It was more indirect and forced us to self-censor,” Phukan said.

This idea of self-censorship is particularly dangerous for students.

“To have a 16-year-old say, ‘The principal is telling us we can’t cover it, but we’re gonna do it anyway,’ is a tough thing. Students have this built-in respect for authority. For journalists, it’s really important they understand that sometimes they need to push back and recognize that the goals of the principal at Mountain View are not the same as those of the student journalist,” said Mike Hiestand, a senior legal counsel for the SPLC who helped with the Mountain View case.

According to Hiestand, a common reason for censorship is if the school thinks the story makes it look bad.

“That’s what was happening — they were critical of how the school was responding to these claims of sexual harassment. You need to stay true to your role, even in the face of adversity. There are available legal protections. Seventeen states, including California, have passed their own laws to protect journalists. I think they will win the lawsuit because California has significant state-level protection,” Hiestand said.

The SPLC provided legal counsel and connected the Oracle students with an attorney. However, according to Hiestand, the most effective way to fight censorship is simply to do good journalism.

“Be able to stand up and hold up your story. Be proud of it. Defend it because it’s good journalism. It’s good reporting. It’s good writing. Try to put out the best journalism possible,” Hiestand said.

In that regard, both Mungee and Phukan agree that their coverage was ethical. 

“The core of journalism is to share people’s stories, reporting objectively based on evidence and truth. That’s exactly what we did with the article — we contacted lawyers, reported objectively, and got tons of interviews,” Phukan said.

Ultimately, the most significant impact of the situation was that it took away from the students’ voices. 

“We wrote that article to try to uplift and give students a platform. Taking that away was very harmful,” Mungee said. 

Nonetheless, publishing the article was gratifying.

“It was amazing to see students so interested in the story. Two sources contacted me and it was really sweet. They thanked me for uplifting their voices, which was our goal in the first place. After the alleged censorship was made public, we saw an outpouring of support from the victims, alumni, teachers, and parents. It was shocking because I didn’t think the community would come out that much to support us,” Phukan said.

Mungee emphasizes recognizing one’s rights and resources and finding support in others for students who may also struggle with censorship.

“It’s really easy to lose sight of why you’re doing something. When we were having conversations with our principal, it was like, ‘Why are we doing this? Why do we need to publish this article?’ When you’re facing censorship, you need to remember how important it is to amplify student voices and your core motivation. Know that you have a community,” Mungee said.

Holding fast

In November 2021, Adriana Chavira’s journalism students wrote an article on how their school librarian was no longer working on campus because she was not vaccinated.

Chavira, the journalism advisor for Daniel Pearl Magnet High School, was contacted a few months later by the librarian, asking to remove her name from the article.

“I contacted the SPLC and they said we didn’t have to remove anything because it’s newsworthy. In January, the principal asked me to remove the librarian’s name, and I said, ‘No, that’s an example of censorship.’ From there, they said that I would be insubordination with the principal,” Chavira said.

Months later, Chavira was given a three-day suspension.

“Several news outlets covered the suspension and censorship attack. It went nationwide. News organizations, including the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, which I’m a board member of, sent letters of support. The father of Daniel Pearl, the journalist that the school is named after, also wrote a letter in support of the act that the suspension be revoked,” Chavira said.

After two weeks of media attention, the school district rescinded the suspension.

“The students learned how they were in the right and needed to stand up. They felt empowered. Afterward, many other school publications or editors would contact my students and say, ‘This is happening at our school. Can you give us some guidance on what to do?’ I would get emails from other advisors who are facing censorship attempts by their administrators as well,” Chavira said. 

In such cases, Chavira recommends contacting the SPLC and teaching both students and educators about press laws and free speech. 

“I didn’t back down because I didn’t want other advisors to go through the same thing. So when I heard about what was happening at Mountain View, I was upset. That teacher should never have been removed. I did speak to her last year a couple of times. Her district violated the law by removing her from her position, and I’m surprised that the district let it go this far because there’s a lawsuit already,” Chavira said.

Chavira and her students continue to speak about the experience at various webinars.

“We want to spread the word that students have rights and need to not be afraid, especially in California, where we have some of the strongest student press laws in the country. Administrators need to know the laws and recognize that student journalists are real journalists who are responsible for writing ethically and deserve the same rights as professionals,” Chavira said.

Seeking solutions

For student journalists of the Norse Star, the news site for Stoughton High School in Wisconsin, advocating for press freedom is something they all value.

“Our paper already has a lot of freedom because we don’t go through prior review. We’re able to critique our school and district freely. But Simon Mehring, our associate editor-in-chief, thought it was important that other schools and student journalists in Wisconsin also have that protection. He proposed a bill to solidify those rights and prevent future censorship, and we’re really glad it’s moving on,” said Miles Heritsch, a junior at Stoughton and the cover story editor and head artist of the Norse Star.

The bill, based on the New Voices legislation passed in 17 out of 50 states that combat the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier decision, would protect students’ freedom of speech regardless of whether or not the school sponsors their publication.

“I feel like student journalists, in particular, don’t think they have the power to change their school or community. Being able to publish your thoughts, keep people informed, and advocate for yourself is a really powerful tool that can create change,” Heritsch said.

Heritsch attended a conference with a former Norse Star advisor who spoke about his former student. The student wrote a story about how she was able to buy alcohol without her ID in many places, causing the state to put heavier restrictions in place. 

“It was inspiring. An idea that a student journalist had could create real, legal, and societal change. I think that’s a super powerful tool that anyone should have regardless of age or status and that should be protected for students,” Heritsch said.

The previous year, Heritsch published a comic advocating for gender-neutral bathrooms.

“I visited other high schools and noticed that Stoughton was one of the only ones in the area that didn’t have any. I’m transgender, so that’s something really big in my life. The comic was special for everyone on staff because it was more polarizing than most things we publish. But I heard many teachers respond to it after it came out like, ‘That’s cool of you to speak up about,’ Heritsch said.

However, despite having more freedom than other school publications, the Norse Star is still impacted by self-censorship.

“One of the most pressing issues that we go through is wondering what other people will think about what we publish. If you’re working with professional journalists, they’re less connected to the stories that they publish. But if you publish a story as a student journalist with your name attached to it on a school newsletter, then you’re going to hand it to people and have to sit next to them in class the next day,” Heritsch said. 

Their concern comes from what happens when students strongly disagree with something published: conflict. 

“There are stories about abortion or gun control that we’ve heavily discussed not including in our issues, just because of fear of sparking controversy among our community. I don’t think that that’s something we should be scared of because, to an extent, controversy can be a good thing,” Heritsch said.

In the end

As the lawsuit is pending, and Wisconsin is nearing being the 18th state with New Voices legislation, student journalists’ voices continue to amplify themselves and others.

When asked why it matters, it comes down to love for what they do.

“I have a huge passion for journalism. It’s something I hope to continue in the future. But I don’t think that journalists would be as enamored by their work if their freedoms were being restricted, or they couldn’t publish important investigative stories beneficial to the public,” Phukan said. 

While censorship cases are increasing in number, it’s vital to recognize that there are valuable lessons to be gleaned as well.

“You shouldn’t be afraid of upsetting your administration. You shouldn’t self-censor what you’re writing if your story is ethical and legal. If it’s beneficial to the public, if you think students would care about it, publish it and worry about the repercussions later. There are people around the nation who are there to support you and have gone through the same thing. Know your rights,” Phukan said.

This story was originally published on Scot Scoop News on March 20, 2024.