What is libel??

Amendment I
Congress shall make no law respecting an 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.

Have students look up Libel and Privacy Law
http://www.rcfp.org/handbook/viewpage.cgi



Additional Websites for related research include:
Why is freedom of speech and press important?
http://www.freedomforum.org/about/today.asp



http://www.rcfp.org/



Overview of First Amendment Law (Review sites)
http://www.aclu.org/library/pbp10.htm


l
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/first_amendment.html



http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/constitution/amendment01/06.html

Libel and the First Amendment

The Student Press Law Center
http://www.splc.org/default.asp

Begin into the Tinker story why you have liberties at the school house door.
Three students in Des Moines, Iowa decided to protest the Vietnam War in 1965 by wearing black armbands to school. The school learned of their plans and made a rule prohibiting black arm bands. They were told to take them off when they refused, they were suspended.
Students and their parents sued the school district. Four years later, in 1969, in a landmark decision the court ruled that students werepermitted to their First Amendment rights as long as they did not cause a substantional disruption of or material interference with school activities. Administrator must demonstrate facts in order for a legal censorship to hold up in court. Thiscase paved the way for uncensored school newspapers until 1985.
Tinker says that a newspaper may not be censored if the story or the research for the story is not causing a disruption to the school
Procedure Three:

Break students up into groups.
Hand students scenarios of real court cases taken from "Law of the Student Press." Group must determine which was determined as a censorship and which case wasn’t. Students must read their scenario to the class and give their opinion and why.
Procedure Four:

Bring students back into class.
Have students read an article that was censored from the Hazelwood case.
Read the scenario from Hazelwood and ask the class if they believe this should be censored.
Why or why not?
Is there anything wrong with these articles that you feel could cause a disruption?
Procedure Five: The Hazelwood Case

In 1983 students at Hazelwood East High School in St. Louis were shocked when they received their paper back and found two stories missing. One had been about teenage pregnancies and had featured anonymous students in the high school. The other had been about divorces and how it affects teenagers. The past adviser (who had just left the district) had started a tradition of giving the principal the newspaper as a common courtesy before it went to press. The principal had been concerned about the articles -- thinking they were too revealing and did not fully cover the stories. (Did not interview all needed sources etc.) He cut the stories without telling the students or the new adviser. His first claims were that the stories were “too sensitive” and that the topic of divorce was inappropriate for high school students. In court he claimed that the girls in the pregnancy story were easily identifiable, that students were sexually active, and that the parents did not respond. In the divorce story he did not like the reference that the father that was gone all the time.
The newspaper decided to sue based on Tinker. The case made it to the Supreme Court. In a defeat to student journalists, the court sided with the school and drew up new rules for censorship from the school.
The court decided that if the following were true...
The newspaper must be an open forum of public expression. (Newspapers must have an editorial policy proclaiming they are an open forum.
Public open forum means that any student may write a letter and have it published. Any student or teacher may request to have a guest column.)
Students must have the final say in content about the paper.
Papers should not be given to administration before going to print. (This is how the students in Hazelwood got in trouble.)
... then Tinker applies: The school may only censor when they feel that it will disturb the learning process.) If there is a written school policy then the newspaper cannot be under prior review by the school!
If paper does not proclaim itself an open forum, then it is subject to prior review.
Schools must still justify why they censored material and why it is not educationally fit. Papers must be careful to be grammatically correct, research correct sources, not use vulgar words, have banlanced reporting, etc…
Procedure Six:

Review with students over how to tell the difference between what law a newspaper falls under.
Assessment:

The following class, students to be able to come in and define what Tinker is and what Hazelwood in a short essay quiz.



Have students look up Libel and Privacy Law
http://www.rcfp.org/handbook/viewpage.cgi

Additional Websites for related research include:
Why is freedom of speech and press important?
http://www.freedomforum.org/about/today.asp

http://www.rcfp.org/

Overview of First Amendment Law (Review sites)
http://www.aclu.org/library/pbp10.htm
l
http://www.law.cornell.edu/topics/first_amendment.html

http://supreme.lp.findlaw.com/constitution/amendment01/06.html

Monday, Nov. 12
Students will take the ABC AP Review Quiz

http://www.newsroom101.com/

Goal: Students will improve their communication skills
Students will discover a new approach to the interview process

Monday- Wednesday (Nov 12-Nov. 14)
Students will conduct an interview scavenger hunt:


-Talk to 3 people with unique pets.
~be able to tell how long they have that pet, why they have that pet, etc.
-Find 3 people who have met or had an experience with famous people.
-Find someone who has an educational military experience that they can share or ask a math teacher what their favorite aspect of math.
-Go up to 3 people you have never met and learn about their study habits. Different ones.
-Find out what the best place in the high school is to hang out.
-Find where the best place in Berwick to hang out is.
-Find someone with a fascinating college story to inspire others to go to college from a teacher or dual enrollment high school student
-Ask one of our administrators and find out what their favorite meal in our cafeteria is.

AP Practice

Monday and Tuesday:

You will complete the following AP writing rule exercises.

http://www.newsroom101.com/

Daily Reading:

H'wood Writers Strike, TV Scrambles

Less Sleep May Mean Fat Kids

Complete review exercises A, B, C



Goal: Students will become familiar with AP rules for writing

1. Students will complete the three exercises
2. Students will take notes on the new rules
3. There will be a quiz on Thursday on the AP Style Rules

Lead Practice

1. Today we will complete Journalists Toolbox quiz 19
http://www.newsroom101.com/

Objective:
Using the Times Leader, students will rewrite leads and evaluate articles.
Students will get a copy of the Times Leader.
Students will gather into groups and select a section of the newspaper.
The group will read and discuss four AP articles.
The group will rewrite the leads of each story

1.2.11B - use and understand a variety of media and evaluate the quality of material produced