What about the First Amendment?
Issue date: 5/27/09 Section: Special Editorial First Amendment rights at risk
After 81 years as a student-run First Amendment newspaper, the future of The San Matean is in jeopardy. Faculty-driven recommendations for restructuring the journalism program threaten the paper as a bi-weekly news medium.
A faculty committee presented recommendations from a Program Improvement Viability review that included journalism courses to the Academic Senate in December. The PIV document makes a point that the newspaper needs to be improved: "This committee does not want to impact students' First Amendment rights to choose the stories covered, but to make this print product one that reflects well on this program and the campus."
"I respect and understand First Amendment rights, and a student paper should be produced by students with no interference," wrote President Michael Claire in an e-mail. "But with that right comes the responsibility of producing an accurate paper that is well written."
While The San Matean appreciates the stated intention of both the faculty and the president to respect First Amendment rights, both statements indicate a desire to control the quality of the newspaper.
The school cannot stop speech because it does not make the school look favorable, said Adam Keigwin, chief of staff for Senator Leland Yee, a champion of student First Amendment rights. Misspellings and grammar are protected speech; unless you are committing libel, this is covered by the First Amendment, Keigwin said.
While The San Matean strives for quality and has won many awards, the purpose of a student-run First Amendment newspaper is not to "reflect well" on the campus. The purpose of a student newspaper is to provide campus news coverage and to help students to learn the craft of journalism. A large part of that learning is experiential, and includes making, and learning from, mistakes.
Every publication includes mistakes. The PIV document itself uses "breath" for "breadth" several times. The San Matean strives for accuracy and prints corrections for errors.
A faculty committee presented recommendations from a Program Improvement Viability review that included journalism courses to the Academic Senate in December. The PIV document makes a point that the newspaper needs to be improved: "This committee does not want to impact students' First Amendment rights to choose the stories covered, but to make this print product one that reflects well on this program and the campus."
"I respect and understand First Amendment rights, and a student paper should be produced by students with no interference," wrote President Michael Claire in an e-mail. "But with that right comes the responsibility of producing an accurate paper that is well written."
While The San Matean appreciates the stated intention of both the faculty and the president to respect First Amendment rights, both statements indicate a desire to control the quality of the newspaper.
The school cannot stop speech because it does not make the school look favorable, said Adam Keigwin, chief of staff for Senator Leland Yee, a champion of student First Amendment rights. Misspellings and grammar are protected speech; unless you are committing libel, this is covered by the First Amendment, Keigwin said.
While The San Matean strives for quality and has won many awards, the purpose of a student-run First Amendment newspaper is not to "reflect well" on the campus. The purpose of a student newspaper is to provide campus news coverage and to help students to learn the craft of journalism. A large part of that learning is experiential, and includes making, and learning from, mistakes.
Every publication includes mistakes. The PIV document itself uses "breath" for "breadth" several times. The San Matean strives for accuracy and prints corrections for errors.
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