Student Work

An Oklahoma high school censored for publishing a story discussing the impact of COVID-19 on teachers; a yearbook in Texas stopped during distribution due to their page on the Black Lives Matter movement; a high school article on the changes in their club elections process in Ohio denied — rising William Mason High School junior Taylor Murray said her own advisor limited their ability to cover important school news, including club elections, in fear of censorship from administration and overall backlash.

Freedom of speech remains limited for young journalists due to increased censorship. Photo by Markus Winkler on Unsplash.

The increasing severity of censorship in journalism has caused both advisors and students to self-censor in order to prevent possible censorship from larger organizations or administrators, according to Murray. 

With competing beliefs about the freedom of the press in today’s world, censorship has created an even more complex working environment for many young journalists according to the Columbia Journalism School. These varying ideas from different political affiliations suppress students’ ability to provide accurate news to their community with equal coverage, as the Intercultural Development of Research Association described in their 2022 article on the harms of censorship on student journalists. 

“People who are writing novels [often say] ‘Do I even publish this? What if my book gets banned? Do I even submit this to my agent?’ And I think journalists have to think about the same thing,” IDS Managing Editor Ellie Albin said. “People say [they] are entirely editorially independent, [but] censorship is everywhere.”

As a high school journalist, Murray said the pressures of censorship are so impactful that her journalism advisor limits their publication due to potential backlash from parents, administration and the community. At Mason, the Clubs and Activities Committee decided not to allow student-held elections anymore, causing many students to feel a lack of freedom within their clubs. 

Due to the student uprisings against the decision, Murray’s staff decided to write an editorial covering the issue. However, there was fear that it would be seen as an “attack” on administration, and the advisor insisted on finding a less “aggressive” way to write the piece. Murray said this decision forced writers to change the purpose of the story. 

“Teenagers have very strong opinions on a lot of things, and we just want freedom,” Murray said. “It’s hard to filter yourself and your own opinions, so when you feel really strongly about something and can’t write about it the way you want to, [it] can be hard to deal with.” 

Chantilly High School Journalism teacher Kristine Brown believes conservative politicians play a large role in the growing popularity of self-censorship, as legislatures actively work to control the limitation of what young journalists can cover. As a result, Brown said her students often self-censor their own publications to avoid dealing with larger censorship issues at all. 

Furthermore, not only do these threats of censorship come from conservative state legislatures, pressure from their surrounding communities are increasing for many student newspapers, as Brown noticed that parents in multiple school districts are deciding what the entire student body can or can’t read, as opposed to deciding only for their child. Brown thinks these effects are damaging, as students’ ability to read, ask questions, and think critically are crucial to a high school publication. 

“My school is very diverse — different cultures are going to have different beliefs,” Brown said. “There are going to be things that a particular culture does not want their students exposed to, and I respect that, but it goes too far when [they are] deciding for everybody.” 

While the issue of self-censorship appears on a high school level, censorship alone happens to university publications as well, often due to the administration’s desire to “look good” by supporting a free press, according to Albin. At the IDS, Albin said the staff has had issues with administration limiting access to information they are allowed to have — a form of censorship — though protected by the Freedom of Information Act. 

As she transitioned from high school to college journalism, Albin noticed a change in the role censorship played in student-run publications, as local and state government positions were filling with more conservative politicians who she believes don’t want to be called out for “wrongdoings” that might be reported on by young journalists who represent the schools. 

“We don’t really, truly have free press — [administration] is more conservative than they would ever like to let on, and [they] aren’t supporting the First Amendment,” Albin said. “There are always people trying to participate in censorship — it’s old white men being old white men a lot of the time, as they are the ones who spearhead [the issue].” 

Murray, Brown and Albin agree that both self-censorship and censorship has lasting effects on young journalists by not only limiting their self expression, but their ability to represent their community as a whole. However, Albin said she is optimistic about the future with a new generation of journalists, and hopes that with fresh minds and perspectives, media censorship will fail to damage school publications as drastically.

“Ultimately, you need to tell your truth [and not] censor yourself, because you can’t make everyone happy,” Albin said. “Censorship is real, and it’s happening, and people are going to prison for it. Books get panned, and kids can’t read what they need to read.”