Student Press Law Center

The Indiana Daily Student’s success against censorship attempts last year resulted in new protections against administrative interference. A year later, editors assure readers about its independence. Read the full letter here: https://loom.ly/okgh4N4

As campus sexual assaults are back in the conversation, join the Student Press Law Center to talk about how student journalists can navigate the legal and ethical issues these stories raise. Register here: https://loom.ly/qj6u-yQ

🚨 With Election Day less than two weeks away, we've partnered with @rcfp.org to explain your legal rights and responsibilities when covering elections and high-stress situations. Register for this important webinar: https://loom.ly/h20Wkt0

We're heading to SXSW EDU! 🎉 We're excited to bring together @newslit.org, @presspassnyc.bsky.social and a student journalist for our “Think Like a Journalist: Building Civic Resilience” session. https://loom.ly/cC_nBGE

🎉 Big News: NLP has been selected to present at @sxswedu.com, one of the most prominent education conferences! ✨ We're thrilled to team up with @presspassnyc.bsky.social, @splc.org & a student journalist at @utaustin.bsky.social for the session “Think Like a Journalist: Building Civic Resilience.”

A congressman told a student reporter that recording his press briefing was illegal. It wasn’t. Here’s what state laws actually say, and what student journalists should know before they record: https://loom.ly/NnpNydM

Newly issued guidelines from Montgomery County Public Schools make progress in recognizing the editorial independence of student media, but advocates argue the district still falls critically short of complying with the Maryland New Voices law. Read the full story here: https://loom.ly/2EczsT8

George Porteous and his colleagues at The Stanford Daily sued the federal government and won, but the chilling effect lingers. “Despite our eventual legal victory, I worry about the damage already done.” Read more about Porteous’ experience here: https://loom.ly/wmb1B8Q

Empowering student journalists today builds a more robust free press, now and in the future. SPLC is here to do exactly that. Today is #DAFDay, a nationwide celebration of generosity through donor-advised funds. 👉 Give now through your DAF or whatever method works for you: splc.org/ways-to-give

55 student newsrooms and editors from across the country have joined a coalition led by the Student Press Law Center against the University of Alabama’s closure of two student-run magazines. Read the full brief here: https://loom.ly/HvPcNsk

When a Kansas school district stalled student journalists' public records requests for months, a judge ordered it to turn over the records and pay $113K. 📂 The records fight is part of a larger lawsuit over the district's AI surveillance of students. Read more: https://loom.ly/tBeN-2g

Student journalism is journalism. Period. https://loom.ly/48tB2Ak

Happy #FirstAmendmentDay! Here at the Student Press Law Center, the First Amendment freedoms are the cornerstone of our work. We recognize the significance of its guarantees for our country and our press. 🙏🗣️📰👥✍️ Test your First Amendment knowledge with this quiz: https://loom.ly/ZSwtV40

Student media advisers, have you had “The Talk” with your students yet? Having a conversation with them about your constraints as an adviser is never easy. Read our guide so you feel prepared to speak with your students before you get too far into the school year: https://loom.ly/AsXxyck

Educators, join us tomorrow for an open conversation with our friends at the Center for Community News! Bring your legal questions, or just hear what's on everyone else's mind as we head into the semester and the final stretch of election season. Register here: https://loom.ly/Cg-2aUk

New Voices advocacy starts long before a legislature convenes. Our new Guide to Legislative Calendars walks through the key terms and dates advocates need to know, plus what you can do in the off-season to build momentum for student press freedom legislation in 2027. https://loom.ly/CtClXcM

When the White House punishes journalists for coverage it doesn’t like, it does more than raise First Amendment concerns. It also creates a chilling effect that reaches far beyond Washington, D.C., including into student newsrooms. https://loom.ly/hG9cUC4

Some administrators value accountability journalism. Increasingly, though, others turn to an alarming playbook: stonewall requests for comment, then publicly discredit the reporting — sometimes escalating to legal threats. Four student journalists share their stories: https://loom.ly/5mc2Ihc

We’re honoring Constitution Day by amplifying the role of student journalists in shaping our democracy, and the landmark cases that protect — and limit — their right to report the truth. https://loom.ly/Ye3CZzo

25 students, 15 states, one mission. Our seventh annual New Voices Student Leaders Institute may have wrapped up this summer, but the students' yearlong advocacy has just begun. Read their reflections on what comes next 👇 https://loom.ly/D9Yj3Bg

The Guardian explored how high schoolers dealing with threats to their reporting are increasingly calling in legal backup from the Student Press Law Center. Through our hotline, censorship-related requests were up 17% last school year compared to the prior year. 📰⚖️ https://loom.ly/VaMlrCs

Our executive director recently joined the Mission Forward podcast to talk about SPLC's two speeds: urgent and patient. We practice this patient urgency every day by answering today's crisis, while building toward student press freedom in all 50 states. 🎧 Listen here: https://loom.ly/3h3ES8U

NEWS: A large student media coalition filed an amicus brief yesterday warning the 11th Circuit that student press freedom is at stake in its review of the University of Alabama’s decision to close two magazines because they focused on women and Black students. See the brief: https://loom.ly/HvPcNsk

📣 We're proud to announce that longtime media lawyer Melissa Bevan Melewsky will join SPLC on Sept. 28 as our first legal director. She brings her expertise supporting journalists at the Pennsylvania NewsMedia Association to the fight for student press freedom. Read more: https://loom.ly/qUcQeTQ

With SPLC’s support, incoming Franklin College junior Olivia O’Neal published an award-winning story about Afghan evacuees living in Indiana. Read how SPLC’s pre-publication review services help students gain extra confidence in their work. 🔗 https://loom.ly/u9LPp9A

Want to make a difference for student press freedom this fall? Apply to be SPLC's inaugural Rosalind G. Stark intern! This paid internship is open to law and journalism students and offers hands-on experience. Reviews begin Aug. 31, so don’t wait. Learn more and apply: https://loom.ly/g5foqzo

“SIUE has met our concerns with apparent indifference,” said a second letter sent by SPLC and FIRE. We are requesting a substantive response to the university’s “non-negotiable” insistence to sit in on interviews between SIUE staff and reporters at The Alestle. Read it: https://loom.ly/aSiLk2s

Educators, do you plan to teach your students about the law this year? Let us do it! Did you know you can invite an SPLC attorney into your classroom or newsroom (virtually & for free 🤠) to give a presentation on a media-law topic of your choice? 🔗 https://splc.org/speakers/

Student journalists in Virginia are looking to secure student press freedom protections in 2027. Read the full story below. https://loom.ly/X6llYRo

Even before IU fired him last fall, Jim Rodenbush and many others have turned to the SPLC Legal Hotline during times of uncertainty. Read how SPLC helped him and the Indiana Daily Student editors respond to administrative pressure and restore their print edition. 🔗 https://loom.ly/WhVUdXQ

Reporting on a story and need help getting the info you need? Simply describe what records you’re looking for, and we’ll create a formal letter with legal citations that you can send to your local or state government agency. 🔗 https://loom.ly/oTOZvKo

How can students build civic resilience amid AI and declining trust in news? Help us explain at SXSW EDU that educators & press freedom advocates can teach all students to think like journalists & support New Voices so young people can take part in civic life. 🗳️ Vote: https://loom.ly/ZefdG0g

CNN's Jake Tapper spoke with student journalists Ben Mueller and Madison Bishop about how their reporting on the Epstein files sparked controversy and censorship from school officials. We were proud to help these students as they stood up for their free press rights. https://loom.ly/V3716gQ

Welcome back, students and educators! No matter what this new school year brings, know we are here for you. We have the legal resources and trainings you need to share your stories with confidence and courage. Check out all of our back-to-school resources at https://splc.org/back-to-school/

Join the SPLC team this fall as the inaugural Stark Student Press Freedom Intern! ✨ This paid internship for a law or journalism student is supported by a new endowment established in honor of former SPLC chair Rosalind Stark. Reviews begin Aug. 31. Learn more and apply: https://loom.ly/g5foqzo

Your vote could help us, @splc.org & @presspassnyc.bsky.social host a panel at #SxSW2027! 1 - Check out our proposal: "Think Like a Journalist: Building Civic Resilience" 2 - Like it with a ❤️ (a free account is required) It's that easy! ⤵️

A Texas principal deleted their photos of a student walkout, but two student journalists didn’t let it silence them. Unfortunately, their story is part of a larger pattern. ICE-related walkouts were the largest subject of censorship reported to our Legal Hotline this year. https://loom.ly/te5WQv0

"Non-negotiable." That's how an SIUE official described the requirement that she be present at interviews between staff and student reporters at The Alestle. SPLC and FIRE sent SIUE a joint letter demanding an end to the practice. Read it: https://loom.ly/9GimwNQ

Before students at the University of Florida published a series on the link between chemical exposure and Parkinson’s disease, SPLC provided free legal vetting. From our new Impact Report, learn more about this SPLC service that empowers essential, complex reporting: 🔗 https://loom.ly/NOCxjto

🗳️ We need your vote! SPLC and our partners @newslit.org and @presspassnyc.bsky.social have proposed a session for SXSW EDU 2027. Help us share a message of news literacy and press freedom! Vote today: https://loom.ly/ZefdG0g

📢 We're up for a #SxSW2027 panel & your vote could make it happen! ℹ️ The panel in collaboration with @splc.org & @presspassnyc.bsky.social explores how educators, press freedom advocates & youth reporters can build civic resilience through student journalism & news literacy. Vote with a ❤️ ⤵️

Our founder Lara Bergen has been proposed for a SXSW EDU panel, "Think Like A Journalist," alongside leaders from the @splc.org & @newslit.org. The topic: helping students navigate AI fakes and misinformation by thinking like journalists. Please vote this month! participate.sxsw.com/flow/sxsw/sx...

We're proud to announce a new endowed fund honoring former SPLC board chair Rosalind “Roz” Stark that will permanently support paid internships for the next generation of student journalists and press freedom advocates. Learn more: https://loom.ly/vgOLjLs Apply: https://loom.ly/g5foqzo

"The adults who care about students... should encourage them to speak up, to debate, and, yes, even to fail." That's the case three D.C. high school editors make in an Atlantic essay, arguing that society is quietly teaching a generation to stay quiet. Read more: https://loom.ly/3ySvpH0

If you're in New Orleans for this week’s AEJMC 2026 Conference, come say hello! SPLC's Gary Green and Jonathan Gaston-Falk will be around to discuss your legal issues and questions, including in sessions and drop-in hours with our partners at the Center for Community News. #AEJMC26

This past school year, student journalists faced real legal risk, censorship and pressure to stay quiet. But they didn’t back down, and every step of the way, the Student Press Law Center was here to help. Read more in our Impact Report: http://splc.org/impact/

Corallus Meeks, editor-in-chief of The Tattler, recently wrote an op-ed in support of New Voices legislation. “Democracy does not begin when someone turns eighteen and walks into a voting booth. It begins when children learn their voice wields power,” Meeks wrote.