First Amendment

Adapted from “Journalism Matters” Ch. 2

“Congress shall make no law respecting the establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free

exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press;

or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a

redress of grievances.”

In Summary:

The First Amendment gives us our freedom of speech and freedom of

the press.

Government cannot censor what we say or print, unless it infringes

on someone else’s rights.

Different levels of courts:State Courts

Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has the ultimate ruling on all cases and the ability to make a ruling become law

for all states.

The Supreme Court has decided three cases directly relating to high

school student expression.

Tinker vs. Des Moines1969

Student punished for wearing a black armband to school in protest

of the Vietnam War.

What do you think happened?

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the student, stating that a

students free speech rights are protected in this case, as long as it does not disrupt the work of the

school or rights of other students.

Bethel School District vs

Fraser1986

Student was punished for using vulgar references and innuendos

during a school assembly.

What do you think happened?

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school, stating that the

school can determine what speech is inappropriate and allows schools

to discipline the students.

Hazelwood School District vs

Kuhlmeir1988

The principal of the high school censored the stories in the school newspaper on teenage pregnancy

and the effects of family divorce on children.

What do you think happened?

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the school.

The Supreme Court stated that public school officials can censor

student expression in school activities like newspaper, yearbook,

school magazine or broadcast.

Copyright Law

Protects your original work from the use of others and you cannot use work done by someone else

without permission from the creator.

No copyrighted material may be reprinted or republished unless it is

done under the “fair use” exception granted by law.

Under the fair use law, part of a copyrighted work may be

reproduced without permission if, the following apply:

• the use is for a non-profit, educational purpose

• it doesn’t affect the potential sales market of the original work

• it doesn’t reproduce a large portion of the work

Ethics

Guidelines for journalists to follow as they gather and report news.

These guidelines:

1. Establish a sense of professionalism

2. Establish credibility with readers and viewers

(the public is confident it can believe what it reads and hears)

3. Provides a uniform measure for dealing with news-gathering

problems.

Code of Ethics

A journalist can be trusted to be accurate, honest, independent and

to keep promises.

Is respectful and sensitive to community standards and taste.

Has a high regard for personal privacy

Treats persons with courtesy and compassion

A journalist is fair and impartial

(What does impartial mean?)

Is concerned about completeness and the context of facts and

opinions used in stories.

Acknowledges and corrects errors

Listens to the questions and complaints from the public

A journalist strives for excellence and considers the public interest in

decision making.

Plagiarism

Taking someone else’s work and passing it off as your own.

Plagiarism is prohibited and may be illegal if the source of the work

is copyrighted.

Facts taken from a source should be attributed to that source and

verified.

Paraphrasing published information is acceptable.