The last time I sat in on a lecture about Law in the Media I was at Kent State University in the late '70s listening to the Society of Professional Journalists/SDX Adviser, Bill Fisher, talk to us about everything -- and I do mean everything -- that we might ever possibly run into in our publishing careers. He didn't, however, cover how to be a journalism adviser.
For this we had Mike Easton: a glib, smooth talking, helpful source, always available (as are most of the speakers chosen by the Institute) to help. I feel much better prepared to handle the intricacies of adviserdom -- the law is really one of my big fears when handling news and students. Now I know I have somewhere to go for advice and help should the need arise.
Lynn Wolf Dulcie
Rock Hill High School
Rock Hill, SC
Posts
Learning more about the law was a pretty liberating experience for me today. I was surprised by how much freedom we do have, and how many people are out there to campaign for us and our students. I was under the misconception that Hazelwood essentially closed the door on that. Something I would like to do is investigate whether or not my district has specific policies for student publications, and if not, see if I can possibly get the ball rolling towards having a set written policy.
ReplyDeleteAshley Barnes
Bel Air High School
Bel Air, Md.
Lynn - you are so very right about the law being scary. Especially since, as Heistand said near the end of the presentation, ignorance of the law is no defense.
ReplyDeleteAlso very interesting to note was his comment that minors do not have specific protection/rules against their names or photos being published (despite what a lot of school officials think).
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Jeff Jones
Miyamura High School
Gallup, NM