Student journalism: a free press at last?

Perhaps you’ll recall the case of Kathleen Dorantes, a part-time instructor who was, insiders acknowledged, removed from her role as advisor to the student newspaper at Saddleback College (the Lariat) owing to the paper’s criticisms of the board of trustees and that body's corrupt union supporters. (See Times article at end.) Unsurprisingly, Dorantes was replaced with unionist and board majority supporter Lee Walker (an English teacher who, oddly, failed to grasp writing basics). Since then in California, imperfect laws have been passed to protect student journalism from censorship. A new law promises to complete the process, protecting journalism advisors too: New California law protects school journalism advisors (LA Times):

…The so-called Journalism Teacher Protection Act, which became law Thursday, prohibits school administrators from retaliating against advisors for trying to protect student press freedoms. The measure, the most stringent of its kind in the nation, closes a loophole in state law that for years has ensured free speech rights for students but failed to guarantee protections for advisors, according to supporters. They say administrators have been able to exercise de facto campus censorship by clamping down on journalism advisors. … In the last three years, at least 15 high school journalism advisors have lost their jobs or been reassigned by administrators who perceived stories as critical, said Jim Ewert, legal counsel for the California Newspaper Publishers Assn. He said Colorado is the only state that provides similar protections for advisors. But the new California law goes one step further by protecting any school employee, such as someone who might help distribute a newspaper, from being reassigned or losing a job merely for helping ensure free speech. "If administrators can go after the teachers, then students are going to be less likely to do the bold stories and the investigative stories that the law encourages them to do," said Ewert, who was also the lobbyist for the bill. … The measure was sponsored by state Sen. Leland Yee (D-San Francisco). He said Saturday that he was moved to act after hearing repeated stories from across the state about good advisors stripped of their jobs after their students pursued valid stories. … One of the cases often cited by supporters involved Janet Ewell, who oversaw an award-winning journalism program at Rancho Alamitos High School in Garden Grove. She lost her advisor job in 2002 after her students wrote editorials criticizing filthy bathrooms and bad cafeteria food. … [T]he bottom line, Ewell said, is that student newspapers are not publicity newsletters for principals….

Or college presidents. Or chancellors. Or trustees. SEE ALSO • Above the law? (From Inside Higher Ed: UC claims it will defy Yee's no-censorship law.) • Bill would protect college newspapers (Times: about Yee’s earlier legislation.) June 5, 1997

Saddleback College cans newspaper adviser Student paper has been critical of district board

Kathleen Dorantes received word May 20, without warning that she would no longer be the adviser to the Saddleback Valley [sic] College newspaper, The Lariat. She was told the decision came from the office of the college president, Ned Doffoney, and Doffoney had given no reason, Dorantes said last week from her home in Riverside. Some sources at the Mission Viejo college...say the move was politically motivated. The student paper has been critical of the majority of the college district's board of trustees since the election in the fall. The faculty member appointed to take Dorantes' place as adviser, Lee Walker, is an outspoken supporter of the board majority. ... During one of the years she was the adviser, 1996, the paper won one of the top awards in the state for community college newspapers, the General Excellence Award from the California Journalism Association of Community Colleges. ... Doffoney said in a telephone interview that the decision had been a "contractual" one. He said that any full-time faculty member can bump any part-time faculty member at any time. Doffoney said that Walker had approached him and indicated that he wanted to advise the newspaper. Walker could not be reached for comment. ... When asked about reasons for the change or reasons that the college president, rather than an immediate supervisor, would make a decision about a faculty teaching assignment, Doffoney said, "I think this conversation has gone about as far as it can," and indicated he did not want to comment further.

Lee Walker, Son of the American Revolution event, 2015

PURPOSEFUL CAT (AT NOON):

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