2008 Woodie Awards
Supreme Court passes on case threatening student journalism
Emily Mead, Editor in Chief
Issue date: 3/1/06 Section: Editorial
Student journalism took a tremendous blow last week when the Supreme Court decided it would not hear the appeal of a student journalist whose dean required that he review their newspaper before it went to publication.
The case began in 2000 when three student reporters from Governors State University in Illinois wrote articles in their student-produced newspaper, The Innovator, harshly criticizing the university's administration--an action not so atypical of a college newspaper. A dean at the university then demanded that he be given the the opportunity to review, and consequently censor, all future issues of the paper. The students would not comply and took their university to court in a case dubbed Hosty v. Carter.
In 2005, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (which covers Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin) ruled for the university, overruling decisions made by both a district court and a three-judge panel of the appellate court. Using as precedent the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case, a Supreme Court decision that gave high-school administration the authority to censor publications by their students, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has opened the door for college administrators to follow suit.
The student reporters wrote in a petition to the Supreme Court, "A college newspaper's purpose is to offer the university community the ability to receive news and information about the university uncensored by the institution itself." They and their supporters also encouraged the Supreme Court to consider that college students have notoriously been considered more mature than high school students and therefore should be subjected to fewer constraints on their First Amendment freedoms by administrators.
This seems like a noble cause; college students joining together to fight back against injustices committed against them. It would be easy to side with them too, except for one detail that seems to be scarcely mentioned.
As with most student-produced university newspapers, a certain amount of funding (usually quite large) is provided by the university to cover the costs of printing, distribution and various other things. Without this funding, even the Star would cease to exist. As the supplier of funding for the Innovator, Governors State University and its administration are the publishers, and will continue to be until its student newspaper can support itself. Given my position as the Editor in Chief of another university newspaper, I can say with confidence that without the necessary funding by administration, ads alone will not sustain most student publications.
The case began in 2000 when three student reporters from Governors State University in Illinois wrote articles in their student-produced newspaper, The Innovator, harshly criticizing the university's administration--an action not so atypical of a college newspaper. A dean at the university then demanded that he be given the the opportunity to review, and consequently censor, all future issues of the paper. The students would not comply and took their university to court in a case dubbed Hosty v. Carter.
In 2005, the US Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit (which covers Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin) ruled for the university, overruling decisions made by both a district court and a three-judge panel of the appellate court. Using as precedent the Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case, a Supreme Court decision that gave high-school administration the authority to censor publications by their students, the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals has opened the door for college administrators to follow suit.
The student reporters wrote in a petition to the Supreme Court, "A college newspaper's purpose is to offer the university community the ability to receive news and information about the university uncensored by the institution itself." They and their supporters also encouraged the Supreme Court to consider that college students have notoriously been considered more mature than high school students and therefore should be subjected to fewer constraints on their First Amendment freedoms by administrators.
This seems like a noble cause; college students joining together to fight back against injustices committed against them. It would be easy to side with them too, except for one detail that seems to be scarcely mentioned.
As with most student-produced university newspapers, a certain amount of funding (usually quite large) is provided by the university to cover the costs of printing, distribution and various other things. Without this funding, even the Star would cease to exist. As the supplier of funding for the Innovator, Governors State University and its administration are the publishers, and will continue to be until its student newspaper can support itself. Given my position as the Editor in Chief of another university newspaper, I can say with confidence that without the necessary funding by administration, ads alone will not sustain most student publications.