First Amendment Press Freedom Award

If you and your students attended the JEA/NSPA convention this past week in KC, you are aware of the courageous fight some teachers and advisers wage against censorship. In some cases they kept their student media operating as designated forums for student expression or as practicing forums for student expression.

Others still continue to fight the good fight. We would like to increase recognition of such programs.

To achieve this, JEA, NSPA, CSPA and Quill & Scroll sponsor the First Amendment Press Freedom Award. Deadline for applying is Dec. 1. To find out more about the award and download an application go here.

If your student media are open forums by policy or practice, please apply. We would love to recognize more of you.

And, if you are forums for student expression, please let us know so we can list your student media as such on Kent State’s Center for Scholastic Journalism website. Recognition forms can be downloaded there.

For other news on current censorship issues:

• The student paper Minnesota Catholic school administrators don’t want seen

• School pulls op-ed pieces (includes links to the student media website)

• Catholic school administrators delete editorials from student media

• Parents challenge school’s ban of  “I heart boobies” bracelets