ATTN: Journalistic Freedoms in Danger

this is a conversation I had with a friend concerning the board of trustees and or administration trying to gain some sort of control over the content within a student publication, which is funded through school money and internal advertising revenue. The school is Lake Land College, Mattoon, Ill., and the paper is called "Navigator." If anyone reads this, pass it along. We need a grassroots movement, high-tech style.

[quote] Jacobian says:
hey, i talked to [name withheld] at the end of the semester..he said the board o' trustees was considering some kind of policy change regarding the navigator...heard anything about that?
...
I like feeding the ducks says:
no, I haven't. That's scary
Jacobian says:
[name withheld]said he thought he'd read in the [mattoon journal-gazette] something about prohibiting 'vulgarities' or something...but that the board had tabled the issue pending legal advise
Jacobian says:
i thought that was kinda bizarre timing ... since the [Navigator] been pretty timid so far this year
I like feeding the ducks says:
yeah, no kidding

I like feeding the ducks says:
sound's like [name withheld . 2] should get an attorney the specializes in media law ... I think Eastern has one that probably works pro bono.
Jacobian says:
there's that james tidwell guy his specialty is journalism law
I like feeding the ducks says:
yeah... thats him

Jacobian says:
id like to think its just some kind of intimidation...cant imagine what would happen if the board actually formed any kind of policy regulating content in any way..
I like feeding the ducks says:
no kidding
Jacobian says:
im sure somebody would let every first amendment group know about it by the next morning
...
Jacobian says:
i mean, it'd have to be in the board book if it came up at the meeting (which it was, though not specifically)
Jacobian says:
navigator as action item would have to send off alarms to [name withheld .2] , right?
I like feeding the ducks says:
i would think
Jacobian says:
it would be logical. the only way [name withheld .2] wouldn't know about it would be if they didnt tell her...but that would have to get around..i hope its not her doing..i think more of her than that
I like feeding the ducks says:
me too
...

I like feeding the ducks says:
I think anyone that is still a student or otherwise have a vested interest in happenings on LLC campus should get involved if the issue affects them, regardless of personal bias or past experiences.
Jacobian says:
i have my doubts about anyone being able to rally the student body
Jacobian says:
unless there were free pizza
I like feeding the ducks says:
yeah... food gratis usually pulls in extra people

Jacobian says:
what do you think the whole thing is? indirect intimidation or..with the intent to do it?
I like feeding the ducks says:
probably, knowing the board they're just gonna try and do it. They wanted to do it a long time ago, when [an aquaintance of mine] and I first started. Maybe before that. But it's always been the intent of the trustees and administration to grasp some managerial control over the paper.
I like feeding the ducks says:
but the LLC big wigs have often tried dictating content
...
I like feeding the ducks says:
nothing really controversial? We may have made a few comments in general about the student body and administration, but nothing gratuitous... I'd have to go back through the older papers and look through
Jacobian says:
what kind of pressures did they put on you?
Jacobian says:
how did that totalitarian attitude manifest?
I like feeding the ducks says:
the budget i think. Since they technically have say over how the Lighthouse/Navigator could spend money, they believe they should have say over content
I like feeding the ducks says:
LLC does sign the paychecks
Jacobian says:
is that why [name withheld] was knew so well that the admis would have to lessen all student life budgets equally to get at the student publication's budget?
Jacobian says:
-was
I like feeding the ducks says:
i think so
I like feeding the ducks says:
otherwise, it would single out the paper

Jacobian says:
i haven't kept up on the governors state u. case...have you? maybe this has something to do with it.
I like feeding the ducks says:
I don't know... despite reading about the politics of Illinois almost everyday, I don't think I've read anything about it
Jacobian says:
at gsu..some mid-level admin shut down the paper and locked the editors out when she demanded prior review..cut off payments to their printing service..so a plethora of first amendment orgs sued on the editors behalf..the ill atty general sided with the university..its in some federal district that includes several states..the court ruled in favor of the students..but of course the university
Jacobian says:
has appealed..thats the last i knew..back in april i think
I like feeding the ducks says:
oh yeah... no, i haven't heard anything since then...
Jacobian says:
i intend to find out everything i can next week
Jacobian says:
i have to say.. *if* there's anything there...but it wouldn't suprise either one of us if its exactly what we don't want to be
I like feeding the ducks says:
no kidding [/quote]


are they covering their butts or are they looking for a way to slip in some control clause? The Board of Trustees is looking at inserting language into their policy that would protect them from legal liabilities incurred by possible actions by the student publications. Is it a way for them to exert some sort of pre-press control over a newspaper that's supposed to be ran by the students.

[quote]Published on Wednesday, December 15, 2004 10:04 AM CST
Lake Land board ponders changes
By HERB MEEKER, Staff Writer
MATTOON -- The Lake Land College Board of Trustees on Monday night considered student publication First Amendment Rights in comparison to legal responsibilities of the college board to ensure student journalists do not go too far with freedom of expression.
...
The board was asked to take action on a change in policy regarding the Navigator, Lake Land's student newspaper, and its staff's First Amendment rights. One change in the policy would be: The College newspaper staff must, therefore, avoid libel, obscenity, and material that legally invades a person's right to privacy. The action would delete a section of the policy banning certain actions by the Navigator staff: indecency, undocumented allegations, plagiarism, attacks on personal integrity, harassment and innuendo.

Board Trustee Doris Reynolds questioned eliminating those words, claiming that such actions should be specifically restricted.

"I just want to make sure the board is protected, and the students know what the board expects," Reynolds said before a vote was taken on the motion to approve the changes.

The board learned that the changes were recommended for ensuring student exercise of freedom of expression and press freedom as protected by both state and federal law, especially the First Amendment. College administrators contacted Mike Easton of the Student Press Law Center to make sure the policy changes conformed to legal terminology recognized by the courts in order to protect the college and the staff from lawsuits. Easton was described as an "expert in the field" of student First Amendment law.

...
[/quote]

this Mike Easton is supposed to be with the Student Press Law Center, here is the address:

Student Press Law Center
1101 Wilson Blvd., Suite 1100
Arlington, VA 22209-2211 USA




Important links
* The Navigator's Web site
* Lake Land College's Web site
* the agenda with change in board policy of Navigator on Action Item list
* a Mattoon Journal-Gazette article on the LLC Board of Trustees agenda
* Student Press Law Center

Jacob J. DeVore contributed to this blog