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VA Student Fight for Journalistic Freedom

Updated: Feb 20, 2020

Student journalism has become more widespread and with the addition of The Stinger, Herndon High School students have been more involved than ever before. This year, the state of Virginia has proposed a new bill that limits the censorship of student publications. House Bill 36 also known as the New Voices bill will ensure a student’s constitutional right to freedom of speech and allow leeway to publish controversial articles.

In the past, the topic of censorship has come up in Fairfax County, when a student at George Mason High School, Kate Karstens was under fire for publishing an incriminating article about another student. The Washington Post went into detail about how the journalist, now a junior in college fought against the censorship of her article, even going as far as to testify in Richmond, promoting the adoption of the bill.

After reading The Washington Post article in Journalism class, The Stinger staff was inspired to handwrite letters to their respective state senators and delegates urging them to support the bill. Last year, The Stinger faced similar encounters with controversial articles when Herndon High School’s former drama teacher was arrested for possession of child pornography. The students received pushback for publishing an article that dealt with such sensitive matters but were ultimately able to publish a news and opinions article on the incident.

The bill was first approved in a 5-3 vote in the House Education Subcommittee and sent to the full committee, the New Voices Legislation. Unfortunately, the bill was changed and an amendment was added that removed middle and high schools from the bill. While the bill does not actively apply to high school students anymore, if the bill is passed, high schools can still advocate for free speech rights and try to implement the bill next year. High school student journalists may have lost this fight, but they are determined to earn their freedom.

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