Foundation Update (Fall 2006 issue)
Above the Fold
Legal Tender
Tools help student journalists and their advisers expand their knowledge of media law.
The NAA Foundation and the Student Press Law Center have teamed up on 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.
The PowerPoint presentations are available for free on the SPLC Web site, www.splc.org/presentations.
“Press Law Primer for High School Student Journalists,” “Copyright Law for High School Student Journalists” and “Press Freedom for High School Student Journalists” are the first three installments of what will be a five-part series. They 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 these topics to their students.
“Teaching legal issues can be intimidating to both new and experienced advisers,” says Sandy Woodcock, director of the NAA Foundation. “We didn't want this vital aspect of journalism education and newspaper production to be shortchanged or even left out because of its difficulty.
“We went to the experts, the folks at the Student Press Law Center, and asked them how we could help them to help teachers be better able to present and teach press law to their students in an accurate and engaging way,” Woodcock adds. “The result is these PowerPoint presentations.”
“Press Law Primer for High School Student Journalists” is an introductory, approximately 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: what can (and cannot) be copyright-protected; the formalities of copyright; how long copyright lasts; and how copyright differs from other intellectual property rights and plagiarism.
Along the way, some of the more common copyright myths are exposed and clarified. Considerable time also 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.
“Student media advisers tell us constantly that they feel unprepared – and often overwhelmed – when trying to teach their students about the law,” says Mark Goodman, executive director of the Student Press Law Center. “We hope these educational tools will give them the help they need.”
Goodman adds that the presentations are aimed at students and teachers with limited legal backgrounds. They are heavy on practical information and light on “legalese.”
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,” Goodman says.
At least two more classroom presentations – covering libel law and invasion of privacy – are scheduled for release later this year.
Previous NAA Foundation-SPLC projects include:
“Test Your Knowledge of Student Media Law” (www.splc.org/hspresslawtest): Student journalists and journalism educators can take this online quiz to gauge what they know about libel, censorship, freedom of information law, copyright and other common legal issues facing student media.
“Test Your Knowledge of the First Amendment” (www.splc.org/falawtest): In this online quiz, young journalists, their advisers and their classmates can gain a better understanding of our first freedom.
“Virtual Lawyer” (www.splc.org/virtual_lawyer): This one-of-a-kind, interactive online resource conducts an “interview” with student journalists to help them find information on a variety of media law questions.
