Prior review

The Journalism Education Association, as the nation’s largest association of scholastic journalism educators and secondary school media advisers, denounces the practice of administrative prior review as serving no legitimate educational purpose. Prior review leads only to censorship by school officials or to self-censorship by students with no improvement in journalistic quality or learning.

Better strategies exist that enhance student learning while protecting school safety and reducing school liability.

School administrators provide leadership for just about every dimension of schools. They set the tone and are crucial in a meaningful educational process. Undeniably, administrators want their schools’ graduates to be well-educated and effective citizens. Often, school or district missions statements state this goal explicitly. JEA supports them in that effort.

So, when the Journalism Education Association challenges the judgment of administrators who prior review student media, it does so believing better strategies more closely align with enhanced civic engagement, critical thinking and decision-making.

Prior review by administrators undermines critical thinking, encourages students to dismiss the role of a free press in society and provides no greater likelihood of increased quality of student media. Prior review inevitably leads to censorship. Prior review inherently creates serious conflicts of interest and compromises administrator neutrality, putting the school in potential legal jeopardy.

Visual ethics

Philosophy

Designers, photographers and illustrators on student media staffs are first and foremost journalists. All of the ethics that apply to reporters and editors also apply to visual journalists. All journalists must aspire to seek the truth, report comprehensively, provide balance and honor original thought.

Visual journalists play an important role on a staff, as they provide another avenue for readers to access and understand news. Visual journalists are not decorators. Visual journalists should work closely with editors, designers, producers and reporters to make sure visuals are integrated with narrative — telling stories, not just filling space. Videos, designs, photos, informational graphics and illustrations all enhance the experience of the reader or viewer with media.

Definitions: prior review, prior restraint, public forums

Prior review is the practice of school administrators – or anyone in a position of authority outside the editorial staff – demanding that they be allowed to read (or preview) copy prior to publication and/or distribution.

Prior restraint occurs when administrators – often after they have read material (prior review) – actually do something to inhibit, ban or restrain its publication.

Public forums by policy: An official school policy exists that designates student editors, within clearly defined limitations (no libel, obscenity, etc.), as the ultimate authority for determining content. (A publication’s own editorial policy does not count as an official school policy unless some school official has formally endorsed it.) School administrators actually practice this policy by exercising a hands-off role and empowering student editors to lead. Advisers teach and offer students advice, but they neither control nor make final decisions regarding content.

Public forums by practice: A school policy may or may not exist regarding student media, but administrators take a hands-off approach and empower students to control content decisions. For some period of time, there has been no act of censorship by administrators and there is no required prior approval of content by administrators. Advisers teach and offer students advice, but they neither control nor make final decisions regarding content.

Just as professional newspapers need different voices to tell community stories, so do school media. Having publications that reflect, as accurately as possible, the full picture of the school and its community requires diverse student media participation. A diverse staff offers various viewpoints and is more likely to cover a broader range of topics.

A 2012 American Society of News Editors survey showed the percentage of minorities in newsrooms had declined since 2010, even while the percentage of minorities making up the total U.S. population increased. Because many of today’s most pressing news topics (immigration, poverty and crime, for instance) reflect issues of culture and race, diversity among the journalists who cover these stories can mean greater sensitivity and understanding of the nuances involved.

Six principles of scholastic journalism

1. Establish policies enabling effective and responsible reporting.

Students: Practice effective and responsible reporting.

Student journalists practice their First Amendment rights and responsibilities when reporting as designated public forums. When students follow and adapt a code of ethics based on professional standards such as those of the Society of Professional Journalists or the Radio Television Digital News Association, they develop civic responsibility and understand their free speech rights and responsibilities. When they adhere to professional, legal and ethical standards, student journalists enhance their credibility and build public trust. Democracy stagnates when the flow of information is impeded.

Advisers: Develop policies and practices for effective and responsible reporting

Advisers should teach and coach students about legal and ethical principles of responsible journalism by working with them to develop effective policies as well as sound learning processes. In instilling professional legal and ethical standards in their students and creating open forums for student expression, advisers should follow the Journalism Education Association’s Adviser Code of Ethics. Central to this guidance is empowering students to make final decisions of all content, and to anticipate the impact of their decisions.

Administrators: Establish policies for effective and responsible reporting

Effective and responsible student media policies and processes enable all student media to operate as designated public forums where students practice their First Amendment rights – and responsibilities. A code of ethics for students and advisers, based on professional standards such as those of the Journalism Education Association and Society of Professional Journalists, supplements these policies and provides direction. The more student journalists adhere to professional, legal and ethical standards, the more they serve their communities, developing civic responsibility, enhancing their credibility and building public trust.