|
|
|
Israel
|
|
Responding to Anti-Israel Campaigns on College and University Campuses |
Free Speech on Campus
Free Speech and the Campus Media
Updated: January 20, 2009
Campus media is a natural venue for the expression of ideas. Editors of campus newspapers should be aware that privately owned publications have editorial autonomy to decide what will and will not be published. Courts generally view student newspapers (even those at public schools) as private when student editors, and not school administrators, make decisions about content and advertising policies. Campus newspapers are under no legal or moral obligation to accept unsolicited articles or advertising containing false, misleading and/or defamatory statements. In fact, commercial newspapers generally do not accept such advertising. One federal appellate court observed: “The right to freedom of speech does not open every avenue to one who desires to use a particular outlet for expression.”1 Determining the paper’s editorial content and deciding what stories to print are solely the province of editors. It is important that student newspapers set formal standards for accepting advertisements similar to the terms and conditions found in commercial newspapers.
1 Avins v. Rutgers, 385 F.2d 151, 153 (3rd Cir., 1967)
|
|
|
|
