Puyallup student journalists decry censorship

Puyallup student journalists have organized a movement – complete with T-shirts and a Facebook page with more than 500 fans – to combat what they view as censorship by their school district.

They call it Fight for the Right to Write.

Students say having school principals review – and sometimes demand changes to – their journalism before it’s published infringes on their First Amendment rights.

“It no longer becomes the work of the students,” said Megan Thompson, a senior at Rogers High School and an editor on her student newspaper, The Commoner. “It’s the opinion of the school district.”

The students plan to attend tonight’s School Board meeting to make their case. They have also been invited to meet with Puyallup Superintendent Tony Apostle, although no date has been set.

District officials say what they’re doing isn’t censorship – it’s correcting mistakes and preventing school disruption.

They say oversight of student publications became more important after the district was sued for a 2008 story in the JagWire, the student news magazine at Emerald Ridge High School.

The district’s victory in Pierce County Superior Court last month provided an initial victory for the JagWire and the school district. The plaintiffs – four students whose names were used in a story that included interviews about oral sex among teens – have appealed the jury verdict.

Even though the Puyallup district successfully defended the case, it still had to pay for that defense, and it will incur more costs as the case goes to appeal, said spokeswoman Karen Hansen. She said the district has not yet calculated how much it has spent on attorney fees in the case.

PRE-PUBLICATION REVIEW

After the JagWire story erupted, the School Board adopted a regulation that subjects student work to pre-publication review by school principals.

“Prior review has become necessary because of the real possibility of litigation where the district would have to defend itself based on what students have written,” said a joint statement issued by the school district and its lawyers to The News Tribune last week.

Prior review of student publications was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in a 1988 case known as Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier.

But it’s still a big issue debated nationally, said Mike Hiestand, an attorney in Whatcom County and a consultant for the national Student Press Law Center. He said about 80 percent of schools have a prior review system.

“Every journalism education group in the country has said mandatory prior review by people with no journalism training is the wrong way to teach journalism,” Hiestand said.

While schools often cast themselves in the role of publisher of student papers, Hiestand said it’s a false comparison.

“They can call themselves publisher, but they are truly not in the same position as the publisher of The News Tribune,” he said. “They are government officials.”

And the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was written because “we don’t’ want government officials telling us what we can and cannot publish.”

He said the JagWire case was rare, and that high school journalists are seldom involved in lawsuits. By inserting themselves into the content of student publications, Hiestand said, Puyallup educators might increase their liability in the long run.

NOT A SIMPLE ISSUE

But Puyallup district lawyers say it’s not as simple as student free-speech advocates portray.

“What Mr. Hiestand says about avoiding liability by not controlling the publication is a concept we attempted to use, but the court rejected it,” they said in a statement to The News Tribune.

Apostle, the Puyallup superintendent, declined to speak to The News Tribune. He did provide a copy of a letter he sent to students, saying the School Board does not intend to rescind its prior review rule. He said district lawyers have urged the board to retain the rule unless students and their parents agree to be financially liable for future legal claims.

If students and parents agree to those conditions, he said, he would be happy to meet with them.

Apostle’s letter also urges students to help draft legislation to protect school districts from financial liability for student publications.

Such laws have been proposed before. In 2007 a bill died that would have prohibited public high schools from censoring student media in most cases. It also would have protected school officials from liability.

Puyallup students cite examples of what they call district censorship provoked by the new regulation.

In a recent issue of the JagWire, a box is filled with only five words: “This story has been censored.” The story was intended to cover the JagWire trial, which ended April 21.

Student journalist Allie Rickard withdrew her article after a district lawyer wanted to remove a direct quote and insert a sanitized version. The lawyer, Mike Patterson, also told Rickard that she could not include the names of the four student plaintiffs – even though they are part of the public record and had been published elsewhere, including in The News Tribune.

Lawyers also asked Rickard to eliminate a sentence that explained a controversial legal concept in the trial.

“I attended the trial so that I could write my article, which was censored,” said Rickard, a junior.

“We didn’t censor the article, we corrected the article,” Hansen said.

The district lawyers’ statement cited the plaintiffs’ request for a new trial and the appeal as reasons for insisting on the changes.

AT OTHER SCHOOLS

Students supporting Fight for the Right to Write say the censorship issue has extended beyond Emerald Ridge.

Rebecca Harris, a senior at Puyallup High School and editor in chief of the school’s Viking Vanguard, said she was forced by her principal to alter a graphic about gang violence after he objected.

Mostly, she said, the student paper and the principal have a good working relationship. But she said that in this case, he saw racially charged content in the graphic that she didn’t.

“We disagreed,” she said. “We were trying to portray reality.”

Thompson said her student paper also has a good relationship with Rogers’ principal, who hasn’t asked her to censor anything from The Commoner.

But she said students are starting to self-censor their work as a result of the new rules. She gave one example in which reporters considered exploring the issue of religion among students, but editors were afraid it would offend people.

“It degrades our journalism,” she said. “We don’t have the top-quality journalism we could have.”

Puyallup student journalism has long held a good reputation statewide, and its publications have the awards to back it up.

“This process has been disheartening,” Thompson said.

There was a time when she wanted a career in journalism; now she’s decided to become a media lawyer instead.

Meanwhile, the student journalists say they will continue their campaign even after graduation if they must.

“It’s about all three of our papers,” said Harris. “It’s about all student journalists everywhere.”

Debbie Cafazzo: 253-597-8635
debbie.cafazzo@thenewstribune.com

WHAT: Puyallup student journalists plan to attend tonight’s School Board meeting to make their case for removal of the prior review regulation.

WHEN: 6:30 p.m.

WHERE: Ballou Junior High School, 9916 136th St. E., Puyallup.