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Student Expression
in the Digital Age
Dear Teachers and Advisers,
Confused about the rules for freedom of expression when
it comes to digital and online expression in schools? So were we at the McCormick Tribune Foundation and the newly opened
Freedom Museum. It seems like many schools are too, resulting in a plethora of misinformed policies that crackdown on
free speech online.
A couple of months ago we convened a group
of "experts" that included lawyers, teachers, students and non-profit organizations to tackle the topic of free speech in
schools in the digital age. The result was
a guidebook that discusses social networking, internet filtering and school policy entitled:
"Free Speech 3.0: Student Expression in the Digital
Age"
A quick resource guide to the First Amendment Issues
for students, parents, teachers, administrators and anyone else who cares about freedom of speech in high schools
I'd be happy to mail you a hard copy(ies) at no cost
or e-mail you an electronic version if yoyou think it could be helpful for you, your administrators or your students.
Thanks!
Sara Melillo
McCormick Tribune Foundation
Sara Melillo
Journalism Program Officer
McCormick Tribune Foundation
435 N. Michigan Ave., Suite 790
Chicago, IL 60611
T: 312.222.4828
F: 312.222.5408
Free SPLC PowerPoints
Sept. 5, 2006--The Student
Press Law Center today announced the creation of three new classroom presentations to assist high school journalism teachers
in educating their students about press freedom and other common media law topics as they head back to school this fall.
The
creation of these PowerPoint presentations, which are available for free on the SPLC Web site, was supported by a grant from
the Newspaper Association of America Foundation.
The first three parts of what will be a five-part series,
the presentations Press Law Primer for High School Student Journalists,
Press Freedom for High School Student Journalists and Copyright Law for High School Student Journalists are accompanied by detailed teacher presentation notes
and should enable teachers -- no matter what their level of media law expertise -- to provide accurate, useful information
about the law to their students.
The presentations can be downloaded from the SPLC Web site at: http://www.splc.org/presentations.
"Student media advisers tell us constantly that they feel unprepared -- and often overwhelmed -- when
trying to teach their students about the law, " said Student Press Law Center Executive Director Mark Goodman. "We hope these
educational tools will give them the help they need."
Goodman says that the presentations are aimed at
students and teachers with limited legal backgrounds. They are heavy on practical information and light on "legal-ese."
A
Press Law Primer for High School Student Journalists is an introductory
75-90 minute presentation that tackles the six most common legal issues faced by high school student journalists: censorship,
libel, invasion of privacy, copyright, freedom of information law and the reporter's privilege. The presentation is a condensed
version of the workshops given on these same topics by the SPLC legal staff at conferences and workshops around the country
each year.
Copyright Law for High School Student Journalists lasts
about 45 minutes and provides a more comprehensive look at copyright law. The presentation introduces students to the goals
and rationale of copyright. It then walks students through some copyright basics, such as: (1) What can (and cannot) be copyright
protected? (2) What are the formalities of copyright? (3) How long does copyright last? and (4) How does copyright differ
from other intellectual property rights and plagiarism? Along the way, some of the more common copyright myths are exposed
and clarified. Finally, considerable time is spent discussing copyright law's Fair Use exemption, one of the more confusing
yet most important issues in copyright for young journalists. A number of true-to-life examples are given that should help
students understand where the legal boundaries lie.
Finally, Press
Freedom for High School Student Journalists begins by giving students a brief overview of the historical role
of a free press and the protections provided (and not provided) by the First Amendment. It then focuses on how the law protects
student speech at school. Three landmark cases -- Tinker v. Des Moines Independent
Community School District, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier
and Dean v. Utica Community Schools -- are discussed at length. The presentation,
which also lasts about 45 minutes, concludes by offering students practical tips for confronting censorship threats.
The
creators hope that students who experience one of the presentations finish with more than just material to study for a test.
"By
combining historical photos and images with a lively narrative, we hope this presentation will help bring to life some of
the key First Amendment battles involving students and generate a respect for our constitutional freedoms that seems sorely
lacking in much of today's civics education," said Goodman.
At least two more classroom presentations
-- covering libel law and invasion of privacy -- are scheduled for release later this year.
"Teaching legal
issues can be intimidating to both new and experienced advisers," said Sandy Woodcock, director of the Newspaper Association
of America Foundation, which funded the project. " We didn't want this vital aspect of journalism education and newspaper
production to be short-changed or even left out because of its difficulty. We went to the experts, the folks at Student Press
Law Center, and asked them how we could help them to help teachers be better able to easily present and teach Press Law to
their students in an accurate and engaging way. The result of that are these PowerPoint presentations."
Previous
SPLC/NAAF projects include:
"Test Your Knowledge of Student Media Law" (http://www.splc.org/hspresslawtest): An online quiz that tests student journalists and journalism educators on common legal issues facing student media, such
as libel, censorship, freedom of information law and copyright.
"Test Your Knowledge of the First Amendment"
(http://www.splc.org/falawtest): An online quiz that helps young journalists, their advisers and their classmates better understand our first freedom.
Virtual
Lawyer (http://www.splc.org/virtual_lawyer): A one-of-a-kind, interactive online resource that conducts an "interview" with student journalists to help them find information
on a variety of media law questions.
For More Information: Contact:
- Mark Goodman, Executive Director, Student Press Law Center, 703/807-1904
- Sandy Woodcock, Director, Newspaper Association of American Foundation, 703/902-1732
The Student Press Law Center is a national, non-profit,
non-partisan organization established in 1974 to promote and preserve the free expression rights of student journalists.
The Newspaper Association of America Foundation is a non-profit organization
working to develop engaged and literate citizens through investment in and support of programs designed to enhance student
achievement through newspaper readership and appreciation of the First Amendment.
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