West Virginia Legislature sends governor a shield law that protects student journalists

Our adjoining state of West Virginia is on the verge of getting a reporter's privilege law, which journalists usually call a shield law. The state legislature passed the bill over the weekend and sent it to Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin. The state has been one of several in which journalists can cite previous court decisions, but not a statute to avoid revealing sources to which they have promised confidentiality. The District of Columbia, Kentucky and 38 other states have shield statutes; only Wyoming has no reporter's privilege in its Constitution, court decisions or statutes.

"The measure provides West Virginia reporters with a qualified reporter's privilege to refuse to disclose confidential sources, and documents that could identify confidential sources, in civil, criminal, administrative and grand jury proceedings," says the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. With on exception, the law does not protect unpaid journalists; it defines "reporter" as someone who gathers and disseminates information to the public "for a portion of the person's livelihood."

The exception is that the law does cover student journalists. "This language puts West Virginia at the very forefront of the country in recognizing the value of student journalism and the importance of protecting students who are increasingly doing professional-caliber work," said Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center. For background from the Reporters Committee on West Virginia case law and the bill's path through the Legislature, click here.

Herald-Leader endorses high school press bill

The Lexington Herald-Leader called a legislative proposal to extend First Amendment rights to high school journalists "common sense and common fairness" in an editorial Wednesday.

"High-school aged people have died in every war this country has fought, been plaintiffs before the United States Supreme Court, run for public office, given birth to babies and paid taxes," the editorial said.

"So, shouldn't they have the freedom to express themselves like the rest of us citizens?"

The editorial noted that for much of America's history, high school students had the same First Amendment freedoms as everyone else, until a 1988 Supreme Court decision took them away. A number of states have restored those rights through legislation, the paper said, endorsing House Bill 43, now in the Kentucky legislature. That bill, in addition to restoring those rights, also preserves the right of high school administrations to censor libelous, disruptive or other types of reports. It also protects schools from legal liability for the content of a school newspaper.

The Kentucky Press Association and the Bluegrass and Cincinnati chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists have endorsed the bill.

To read the editorial, go to http://www.kentucky.com/591/story/706131.html

For a full text of the bill, go to http://www.lrc.ky.gov/record/09RS/HB43.htm

Columnist endorses high school media bill

Tom Eblen, columnist and former managing editor of the Lexington Herald-Leader, wrote in his column published Thursday, Feb. 19, about pending legislation that would limit the ability of Kentucky educators to censor high-school media.

Eblen, a former student editor at Lexington's Lafayette High School, wrote that high school media don't exist "to train future journalists so much as to train future citizens. In a world awash in information, citizens need to know how to tell good journalism from bad, truth from propaganda, substance from fluff. That requires training — and freedom. And it's an area where Kentucky can lead the way."

House Bill 43, sponsored by Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville, is before the House Education Committee. It would grant student journalists the right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press in school-sponsored media except when their work includes libel or slander, involves an unwarranted invasion of privacy, breaks laws or school policies, or disrupts the orderly operation of the school. It would limit the legal liability of school officials for student-journalist publications or broadcasts, although, as Student Press Law Center Executive Director Frank LaMonte told Eblen, there is no published court decision resulting from a suit filed against a school because of student journalism. The bill would also require school boards in districts that include at least one public high school to adopt a policy on students' freedom of expression.

Seven states have similar laws, which were passed in response to a 1988 Supreme Court decision that said the First Amendment does not protect the free press rights of high school students when the newspaper is part of a sponsored class. The Kentucky Press Association and the Bluegrass and Cincinnati chapters of the Society of Professional Journalists have endorsed the bill.

SPJ chapters back high-school newspaper bill

The Cincinnati Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, which represents journalists in Kentucky as well as Ohio, has declared its support for a bill in the Kentucky House to extend First Amendment rights to high school students.

"We believe that a free and uncensored press is essential to the vitality of American democracy," the group said in a statement issued yesterday. "We believe that all journalists, regardless of age, should be able to practice their craft openly, freely and without fear of retribution or censorship."

The Bluegrass chapter of SPJ endorsed House Bill 43 in December. "SPJ believes you can't start young people's understanding of their rights -- and responsibilities -- as citizens too early," SPJ Bluegrass board member Ken Kurtz told the KOG Blog. Noting that school officials have often tried to censor student papers on issues of importance to them, Kurtz added: "Censorship and freedom are opposites. HB 43 will support freedom for young journalists - the future of our profession." The Louisville SPJ chapter has not commented on the bill. Other journalism groups, including the Kentucky Press Association and Kentucky Broadcasters Association, have endorsed it.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Brent Yonts, D-Greenville, is titled "An act relating to high school newspapers." It would require school boards in districts that include at least one public high school to adopt a policy on students' freedom of expression. The bill also limits the legal liability of school officials for student journalist publications or broadcasts. It would grant student journalists the right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press in school-sponsored media except when their work includes libel or slander, involves an "unwarranted invasion of privacy," breaks laws or school policies, or disrupts "orderly operation of the school." It is in the House Education Committee.