Bill would provide protections for student journalists on high school, college campuses

NEBRASKA -- A bill put forward in the Nebraska Legislature will provide concrete definitions and terms to student journalists on high school and college campuses across the state of Nebraska.

LB 1071 was put forward by Sen. George Dungan and will call school-sponsored media public forums.

The changes would take place for college and high school student media and would provide student journalists protections to their freedom of speech.

Under the new bill, media advisers for the students will also have protections from administration retaliation.

Advisers will also not be prevented from teaching English and Journalism to students.

The bill does not allow student journalists to write information that is libelous, an invasion of privacy, and goes away from journalistic ethical standards.

In 2021, a similar bill was put forward by Sen. Adam Morfeld which sparked debate but ultimately was indefinitely postponed.

Representatives from the Northern Plains Collegiate Media Association (NPCMA), high school journalism programs, and the ACLU all gave testimony at the time.

In 2022, Grand Island Northwest administrators shutdown their school newspaper following an op-ed titled “Pride and prejudice: LGBTQIA+” was published.

Sen. Duggan’s bill was introduced on Jan. 8 and referred to Judiciary Committee on Jan. 10.