The Innovator, the student newspaper of Governors State University in Illinois, has not been printed since the fall of 2000. Why? Because one of the university’s deans, Patricia Carter, asked the printer not to publish any more of the papers until a university official had approved its contents. The paper has not been published since. Carter called the printer after The Innovator had published articles and letters to the editor critical of university administration and faculty. When Carter attempted to gain access to the paper before it was printed, she violated one of the principles most college newspaper editors would fight for.
And they are fighting. Jeni Porche and Margaret Hosty, the editor in chief and managing editor of The Innovator in the fall of 2000, filed a lawsuit against Carter in January of 2001. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois ruled against Carter, saying that she was not entitled to qualified immunity. Carter has appealed the decision.
The case is expected to come before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit sometime this fall, and Illinois Attorney General Jim Ryan is using the decision made in the 1988 Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier case to defend Carter’s actions.
The problem with the Hazelwood decision is that it was designed for high school journalism. It gives administrators the right to prior review of the paper, meaning they can decide to print or not print content.
But college journalism is a completely different ballgame, especially at a large, public university where the student newspaper may be the only place students learn anything about what is happening regarding the administration. Sometimes the articles or opinions presented in the paper paint unseemly pictures of the university. That does not give officials the right to censor the paper.
By trying to use the Hazelwood decision in the case against Carter, Ryan is attempting to impose strict regulaons that were designed for high school students on college journalists who attend public universities in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, the three states that the court has jurisdiction over.
This case has the potential to change the face of college journalism. If Carter wins, and the Hazelwood regulations are imposed on public universities in Illinois, Indiana and Wisconsin, it is highly likely that those student publications will lose their journalistic freedom.
If administrations are allowed to control the content of college newspapers, then it is feasible that those newspapers will essentially become public relations firms for the universities instead of open forums for students.
The idea that college journalists should abide by high school regulations is absurd. It violates the First Amendment rights of the publications and squelches their free speech. We believe that requiring adminstrative approval is unacceptable and support the staff of The Innovator in their legal battle.