The secret war against student journalists
Campus Rights
A new wave of battles against student reporters is being fought in student conduct meetings.
Are you a student journalist? FIRE has your back.
FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative (SPFI) defends free press on campus by advocating for the rights of student journalists at colleges and universities across the country and offers helpful resources on student press censorship and information on the role of student media. If you face censorship, call 717-734-SPFI (7734) for guidance, resources, and answers to your legal questions.
Know Your Rights
FIRE’s Student Press Freedom Initiative offers helpful resources to student journalists at colleges and universities on subjects like press freedom, the First Amendment, libel and defamation, privacy law, and intellectual property. These resources also include student press censorship red flags to look out for and information on the role of student media.
Can I Publish This?
RESOURCE
SPFI's clickable guide to common media law and First Amendment questions. Learn more about topics like defamation and privacy law. If your college or university administration is pressuring your student publication in relation to content, FIRE may be able to help.
Free PRESSED: How Administrative Censorship is Squeezing Student Newsrooms
REPORT
Student journalists across the country are concerned about threats of administrative censorship against them and their publications.
Under Pressure: The Warning Signs of Student Newspaper Censorship
REPORT
Colleges are more obsessed with ‘protecting the brand’ than they’ve ever been before. The result? An epidemic of student media censorship.
Request a SPFI Speaker
SPFI legal experts can join your newsroom or classroom via Zoom for 30 minute or hour-long sessions to present on pre-publication reviews, defamation, privacy issues, public records, intellectual property, source rights, or a topic of your choosing. We’ll do our best to accommodate your availability!
Joining our student newspaper gave me a voice, and unfortunately it’s going to take a lawsuit for the university to listen to it.
FIRE helped me defend my rights.
Student Story
When Haskell Indian Nations University silenced student journalist Jared Nally, FIRE intervened.
What student journalists need to know about covering campus protests
Campus Rights
Student journalists do vital work to keep their communities informed. Here's what they should know about covering campus protests.
You're not alone — FIRE defends your rights on campus
The FIRE Student Network is a coalition of students who recognize the importance of advancing civil liberties on their campuses. Join the movement to make college campuses across the country places where students like you can speak freely.
Introducing the SPFI Sentinel: Free speech stories by — and for — student journalists
Campus Rights
Become a Free Press Insider
Subscribe to FIRE updates to get the latest free speech news in your inbox as it happens! Or, if you’re facing censorship, call the SPFI hotline and a FIRE representative will quickly respond and provide rapid resources and answers to your legal questions.
