The Student Press Law Center has published a new toolkit providing technical assistance and support to student journalists and advisers as they work through the COVID-19 crisis and simultaneously to ward off any interference, obstruction or censorship of their work as student journalists.
The toolkit includes:
- a downloadable Essential Services Letter on SPLC letterhead which can be used by student journalists in the event that your school administration interferes with (or even suspends) your important work,
- a strong public statement by SPLC about the critical role of student journalists at this time;
- FAQs on legal issues surrounding reporting on coronavirus/COVID-19;
- FAQs to help report on the virus and manage a remote newsroom;
- Resources to help programs/papers under threat;
- Resources to help teach legal issues in journalism remotely (including SPLC’s Virtual Speakers Bureau)
- Original reporting about challenges to access to information in the wake of the pandemic
- A compilation of impressive stories by student journalists about the crisis which we keep adding to every day.
Please share this toolkit with student journalists and advisers out there who are working hard to keep their communities informed and hold their institutions accountable.