A law known as “New Voices” that supports the freedom of press for public high school and college journalists in New Jersey, was signed into law by Governor Phil Murphy on December 21, 2021.
The legislation, also known as Bill S108, was first introduced in New Jersey in 2015. In its seven year journey to unanimous passing in the NJ Assembly this summer there were repeated setbacks as sponsors of the bill lost their state house and senate seats and were replaced with new incoming lawmakers.
The two central figures in bringing the bill to fruition are director of Garden State Scholastic Press Association (GSSPA) John Tagliareni and board member Tom McHale.
McHale, an English and Journalism teacher at Hunterdon Central High School, resigned from his position as newspaper advisor in 2013 when the school passed a policy requiring that administration review the student publication prior to publication.
“It’s about students having editorial control,” says McHale. “Back in the 80s when Hazelwood was first put in place, [administrators] controlled the publications. Now every kid is a publisher. So you either lock them out of the whole process, and they’re doing this on their own anyway, or you bring them into the process and teach them how to do it responsibly and ethically.”
Katy Temple, previous Editor-in-Chief of The Torch newspaper at Bergen County College was a student leader who helped move New Voices forward. She initially became involved when she won the Miss Liberty beauty pageant and as part of her community service work dedicated herself to promoting student press freedom.
Temple says “Students want to write about things that are relevant to them, whether that be pop culture, or national politics, or local politics, or things that are going on in school. Students want to write about what’s important to them and what they’re passionate about. Not necessarily about things just to get attention or cause a scene.”
New Voices does not give students free rein to write anything under any circumstances but simply returns to the Supreme Court precedent set in 1969 in the Tinker v. DesMoines School District case. That ruling found that “students do not shed their constitutional rights to freedom of speech at the schoolhouse gate.”
The Tinker standard was followed successfully for 20 years before a second Supreme Court case, Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier, determined that school administrators could censor public school publications on any matter “reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns,” a broad category that in many cases led to total silencing of student voices.
The Student Press Law Center (SPLC) helped initiate the New Voices movement. New Jersey is the fifteenth state to pass such legislation.
The SPLC along with GSSPA and the Journalism Education Association addressed the undue influence of Hazelwood in a joint statement released after the New Jersey bill signing saying, “Hazelwood is commonly used by school administrators to censor student journalists for subjective reasons often related more to the reaction of adults to student media rather than the quality of the media itself.”
After the New Jersey bill’s unanimous passing in the assembly last summer it still didn’t have a smooth path to being passed into law. Governor Murphy sent it back seeking changes to the law including a ban on profanity.
Of the 15 states that have passed New Voices legislation, New Jersey is the only one with this clause.
“It’s important that people who are not involved in student journalism understand what student journalists are trying to do” says Hillary Davis, the New Voices Advocacy and Campaign Organizer at the Student Press Law Center.
“There is a stereotype, or a perception, or a fear that student journalists really just want to write about sex, and drugs, and gossip about their teachers, and that’s not at all true,” continues Davis. “These are students who are learning ethics, how to balance newsworthiness against a whole host of things, and they want to write about stories that are critical to their communities.”
Keeping student presses free from undo censorship not only ensures students can write about topics of interest to their community, it has tangible benefits that extend long after student reporters hang up their press badges.
A study by the National Postsecondary Education Cooperative shows that students who engage in educationally purposeful extracurriculars are more likely to progress with their education. It says, “Writing for the student newspaper can be a life-changing experience. When students are required to take responsibility for activities that require daily decisions and tasks, they become invested in the activity and more committed to the college and their studies.”
For activists like Temple, now a student at Columbia University, working on legislation like New Voices has shaped the course of their career.
Temple says, “This bill is what put me on the path that I am now.” She continues, “The most important thing to take away is that even if you think you can’t do something, you can. Even if people tell you that you can’t do it, you can. And don’t limit yourself to what you can do based on what other people think you’re capable of.”
Katy Temple will be sharing more of her story, and her work with New Voices legislation, during Student Press Freedom Day on February 24. This national day of action will celebrate the passing of SB108 in New Jersey, and also raise awareness for the challenges student journalists and their advisors face.
You can learn more about “Unmute Yourself: Student Press Freedom Day” and sign up for events here.
