(no subject)
News Release sent to the UT:
Illegal censorship is hitting the school newspaper, the Patriot Press, at Patrick Henry High School in the San Carlos neighborhood of San Diego [(619) 286-7700] in an issue being distributed this week on campus.
A student at Patrick Henry collapsed on the gym floor during the PHHS Homecoming Dance on October 30th. Rumors ran rampant on campus that the student had overdosed on drugs. The editor of the Patriot Press, Kim-berly Cruishank, was on-the-scene and saw a news story. She had a re-porter, Rachel Newman, interview the girl involved. It was determined that she had an eating disorder in the 9th grade and suffered a relapse.
The girl collapsed because she hadn’t eaten for several days, not because of drugs. A story was written because, as Cruikshank believes, “the students deserve to know the truth.” That helps her reputation, too.
Vice Principal Jim Good, however, censored the story in violation of state Education Code sec. 48907. It allows students journalists to run any story that isn’t libelous, obscene, or likely to disrupt the campus.
The newspaper staff removed the story and replaced it with the sen-tence, “This story was censored.”
The newspaper’s advisor, Heidi Hugli, said that, too, was unaccept-able, also contrary to the state’s Education Code. The teacher required the students to fill the space with something else.
“Not only was the story censored, but the fact that it was censored was censored,” said Cruikshank in frustration.
Attorney Adam Goldstein of the Student Press Law Center in Virginia advised the editor to distribute this press release.
“During my four years on the Patriot Press newspaper staff, this isn’t the first time the administration has censored an article, but I hope it’s the last,” Cruikshank added.
Illegal censorship is hitting the school newspaper, the Patriot Press, at Patrick Henry High School in the San Carlos neighborhood of San Diego [(619) 286-7700] in an issue being distributed this week on campus.
A student at Patrick Henry collapsed on the gym floor during the PHHS Homecoming Dance on October 30th. Rumors ran rampant on campus that the student had overdosed on drugs. The editor of the Patriot Press, Kim-berly Cruishank, was on-the-scene and saw a news story. She had a re-porter, Rachel Newman, interview the girl involved. It was determined that she had an eating disorder in the 9th grade and suffered a relapse.
The girl collapsed because she hadn’t eaten for several days, not because of drugs. A story was written because, as Cruikshank believes, “the students deserve to know the truth.” That helps her reputation, too.
Vice Principal Jim Good, however, censored the story in violation of state Education Code sec. 48907. It allows students journalists to run any story that isn’t libelous, obscene, or likely to disrupt the campus.
The newspaper staff removed the story and replaced it with the sen-tence, “This story was censored.”
The newspaper’s advisor, Heidi Hugli, said that, too, was unaccept-able, also contrary to the state’s Education Code. The teacher required the students to fill the space with something else.
“Not only was the story censored, but the fact that it was censored was censored,” said Cruikshank in frustration.
Attorney Adam Goldstein of the Student Press Law Center in Virginia advised the editor to distribute this press release.
“During my four years on the Patriot Press newspaper staff, this isn’t the first time the administration has censored an article, but I hope it’s the last,” Cruikshank added.