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A Better Press for a Better World: Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier

May 20, 2020 @ 3:30 pm - 4:30 pm

Free
A Better Press for a Better World logo

Overview

Explore the world of media with the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association’s “A Better Press for a Better World” webinar series. We invite middle and high school students to learn directly from professional journalists and others in the media industry during our weekly online program.

This week

In 1983, the principal of Hazelwood East High School outside St. Louis, Missouri, censored the student newspaper. The paper included a special teen issue section with articles on teen pregnancy and the impact of divorce on students.

Members of the student staff sued.

The case reached the U.S. Supreme Court, which held in 1988 that a high school-sponsored newspaper produced as part of a class and without a “policy or practice” establishing it as a public forum for student expression could be censored.if school officials demonstrate a reasonable educational justification and where their censorship was viewpoint neutral.

Hazelwood remains one of the most influential student speech cases, expanding school control over student speech from previous precedent. Join out Q&A about the Hazelwood case with Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey, about her experience as a student journalist and student expression advocate.

About this series

This is a free online webinar designed for middle and high school students, and pre-registration is required. You may participate via web video or by phone. Our event will be recorded and made available to MIPA member advisers and their students. If your school not yet a MIPA member? How to join MIPA

“A Better Press for a Better World” is the official motto of MIPA. It was first proclaimed during the organization’s first “High School Editors Conference,” a gathering of 100 editors and advisers in May 1922.

Archives of our sessions are available as an audio podcast or via video.

View our event archives

How to Participate

Zoom logoThis virtual, online event is free, but pre-registration is required. Registration for this event will close 1 hour before the start time. Register below.

Participate with us live via Zoom, where you will be able to submit questions to our panelists using the Q&A tool. Alternatively, you can watch on YouTube Live.

Prior to the start of this event, Zoom will email you a link to join the webinar. You will receive a reminder with this information 1 hour prior to the start of the event.

You can listen to archives of this series on your favorite podcasting platform.

Joining by phone instead of web video:

You can join this webinar by phone. Invitations to join the event will include a phone number. This may limit your ability to ask questions, but may be useful if:

  • You don’t have a microphone or speaker on your computer.
  • You do not have a smartphone or have limited data availability.
  • You cannot connect to the Internet.

Youth Safety Information

MIPA is committed to protecting the safety of youth who participate in our programs. We work closely with Michigan State University’s Youth Programs Registration, Safety Assurance and Education office to ensure we are complying with all university policies, federal and state laws, and best practices for working safely with minors.

We are using Zoom via Michigan State University’s IT infrastructure to host this webinar. Zoom’s webinar service is different in several ways from the company’s more commonly used video conference meeting tool, giving the moderator additional tools to manage the event, control what participants see and limit who can speak.

Students must pre-register via MIPA’s website to participate. Only approved registrants will be invited to join the webinar; those registrants will receive an email with a unique link to join the webinar. Students are view-only participants who will not be seen or heard on screen without permission from the moderator. Viewers of the webinar will not be able to communicate directly with each other, although they can submit questions directly to the moderator and panelists via the Q&A tool.

Questions?

Please contact the MIPA office at mipa@msu.edu or 517-353-6761 for additional information.

Featured Speakers

Kathy Kuhlmeier Frey
Kuhlmeier Frey

Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey

Cathy Kuhlmeier Frey was one of three students involved in the 1988 landmark U.S. Supreme Court case Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier.

The case involved censorship of articles in The Spectrum, the student newspaper of Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis, Missouri. The school principal removed articles concerning teen pregnancy and divorce because he felt individuals could be identified in the articles. The Supreme Court ruled against the students, allowing school administrators more authority to censored school-sponsored newspapers.

Kuhlmeier, 54, lives in Rogersville, Missouri, a small community in southwest Missouri. She works for a large insurance company handling workers’ compensation. She has been married to Mike Frey for 16 years and is the mother to two biological adult children, Haley and Eric, and five stepchildren.

Kuhlmeier actively travels and speaks regarding her experiences with censorship. She has been an advocate speaking to state legislators across the country about the New Voices movement in hopes to pass laws to restore rights to student journalists lost in the Hazelwood case.

Jeremy Steele

Moderated by Jeremy Steele, Michigan Interscholastic Press Association

Jeremy Steele is executive director of the Michigan Interscholastic Press Association and a specialist in the School of Journalism at Michigan State University, where he teaches various reporting courses. Steele is an award-winning journalist who has also worked for one of Michigan’s largest independent public relations firms.

Elizabeth Cyr
Cyr

Elizabeth Cyr, yearbook and newspaper adviser, Stockbridge High School

Elizabeth Cyr has found the secret to a happy life: helping young people unlock their potential. She’s been doing so at Stockbridge High School for two decades. Nothing makes her happier than helping students unleash their ideas through contemporary graphic design tools and strong journalism conventions. She coaches staffs on Uncaged News & Online and Panther yearbook. Her staffs have won numerous awards at the state and national levels including the MIPA Spartan, NSPA Pacemaker and CSPA Silver Crown. She was named the 2017 Golden Pen Adviser and earned the 2019 JEA Diversity Award. She also advises MIPA’s All-State Student Journalist Advisory Cohort, a statewide group of student journalists from member schools.

Details

Date:
May 20, 2020
Time:
3:30 pm - 4:30 pm
Cost:
Free
Event Category:

Organizer

Michigan Interscholastic Press Association
Phone
517-353-6761
Email
ask@mipamsu.org
View Organizer Website

Venue

Online Webinar – MIPA will send you a separate email about how to access this webinar