There are countless student journalists across the nation and at our school, and protecting their very right to publish news and information without fear of censorship is vital to maintaining journalistic integrity. With a bill known as the New Voices Bill back in the Arizona state legislative process and recently clearing the House Education Committee, it opens up new doors for state leadership in Arizona to protect student journalists from being censored by their school or district administration.

This bill was first introduced and passed a vote in both the Arizona State House and Arizona State Senate in 2017, but it failed to make it off the governor’s desk. Renewed interest has sparked the bill to make its way back into the state legislative process.

Wolf Howl reporter Abby Ogles explained how “important to our craft it is to be able to have the ability to express ourselves with journalistic integrity without the fear of facing unwarranted censorship.”

Several members of this school newspaper have been working diligently the past few months to send and write letters and make phone calls to our state representatives, urging them to support this bill which is so vital to the work we do. Contrary to what some critics may claim, a New Voices bill wouldn’t allow student journalists to make rash or unsupported claims or write articles that would cause danger to campus life; rather, it is meant to confirm that student journalists are real journalists, who are entitled to the freedom of speech and freedom of the press rights protected in the Bill of Rights.

With the future of this bill hanging in the balance, it’s up to everyone to show their support for student journalists. Please consider contacting your state legislators and tell them to support the New Voices bill for student journalism.

Learn more by going to https://splc.org/new-voices-in-arizona/