Student Press Law Center's Podcasts

When students accuse administrators of censorship it puts advisers in a sticky situation. Many want to help their students but can’t because of their status as a school employee. employee. Student newsrooms are also being financially squeezed by the emergence of  copyright traps, where a photo grabbed online in violation of copyright can cost student news organizations hundreds of dollars in penalties. SPLC attorneys Mike Hiestand and Sommer Ingram-Deam cover this and more in this month’s podcast.

Hiring processes for university administrators are becoming more secretive and harder to cover. Some state laws allow schools to keep the names of candidates confidential until the very end of the process. This raises concerns about transparency and leaves students, faculty and staff in the dark. This month SPLC reporter Monica Kast talks to student journalists from Kennesaw State's The Sentinel about covering closed searches.  "Searching in secret: Hiring administrators is becoming less open and harder to cover" by Monica Kast: http://bit.ly/2LSOzdD "Attorney General Sam Olens appointed KSU's next president" by The Sentinel: http://bit.ly/2wAXXc8 "Anti-Olens protest interrupts Board of Regents meeting" by The Sentinel: http://bit.ly/2MEnSu8 "Dr. Pamela Whitten named KSU president" by The Sentinel: http://bit.ly/2wvnLqH American Association of State Colleges and Universities 2004 study and map: http://bit.ly/2MHPE9h State Freedom of Information organizations: http://bit.ly/2LKuTo9

Sexual assault is one of the hardest topics to report on, but also one of the most consequential. On this month's podcast, we talk with students and legal experts about how to find and use records to cover this issue. “The System” by Indiana Daily Student: http://bit.ly/2L8ebUf “How universities do, and don't, inform the public about sexual misconduct cases” by University Daily Kansan: http://bit.ly/2A8TBxy SPLC’s webinars on covering sexual assault: http://bit.ly/2zWtH0c http://bit.ly/2LAW0m0

Howard University erupted in turmoil after an anonymous Medium article revealed evidence of a massive, nine-year embezzlement scandal in which six Howard University financial aid employees stole one million dollars through skimming money off student grants. We sat down with the Jazmin Goodwin, the editor-in-chief of Howard’s student paper, The Hilltop to talk about how her staff covered the scandal and resulting protests. The Hilltop: bit.ly/2s6Iuyi Exclusive interview with Howard President Wayne A.I. Frederick: bit.ly/2Lp9DVL The Longest student sit-in in Howard’s history comes to an end: bit.ly/2GHXVSV

Student Press Law Center reporters Gabriel Greschler and Taylor Potter spent the last few months working on two stories detailing the issues student reporters face when covering both sexual assault and concussions. In this month’s podcast, the two talk about their experiences and takeaways from their reporting. Sexual assault story. Concussions story.

Three experts joined the Student Press Law Center and the Education Writers Association for a webinar on understanding how to report on the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, or DACA. The Chronicle of Higher Education Senior Writer Katherine Mangan, Education Week staff writer Corey Mitchell and immigration lawyer Dina Francesca Haynes explained some story angles and resources student journalists can use to cover the possible DACA repeal.

We speak with Richard "Dick" Prince about his origins as a reporter, going up against the Washington Post in the 1970s, and why newsrooms need to become more diverse. Prince’s column is at journal-isms.com. He also writes for theroot.com. Long-form story about the Metro Seven: bit.ly/2s8CSUd Yes, it’s a huge deal to have a black journalist run the New York Times, Quartz article by Prince: bit.ly/2IXMQCa What stagnant diversity means for America's newsrooms, PBS Newshour interview with Prince: to.pbs.org/2x8u46k How Diverse Are US Newsrooms?, American Society of News Editors: bit.ly/2KQcoyz

We speak with Trevor Timm, a co-founder and the executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a nonprofit which works to protect journalists and their sources by offering free, open source digital security tools. Further reading on the incident where Harvard searched through student deans' email accounts to find the source of a leak to the press (and update) SPLC coverage an incident illustrating the dangers of relying on a school server: "Embattled high school newspaper loses a year's worth of archived stories after school officials shut down website" SecureDrop website Signal website Secure The News website Prior SPLC coverage of internet filters Got an idea for who next month's guest should be? Send it to sbreslow@splc.org.