We stand with student journalists at L.A. City College
On May 30, 2023, professional journalist organizations, journalist leaders, journalism educators and free press advocates sent the following letter of protest to Los Angeles City College and Los Angeles Community College District leaders following a Los Angeles Times report about student journalists facing a culture of censorship on campus:
Dear President Gallagher, Chancellor Rodriguez and the LACCD Board of Trustees,
As a coalition of journalism organizations, press advocates and media law experts, we are concerned that the First Amendment rights of Los Angeles Collegian student journalists have NOT been respected at Los Angeles City College.
We are aware of multiple incidents of student press censorship at Los Angeles City College, including:
1. On May 2, prohibiting a student photojournalist from covering a campus music event honoring the college’s outgoing president;
2. On May 19, sending armed sheriff deputies to confront a Black student photojournalist taking photos in common areas in the campus music building;
3. In 2021, barring student journalists from covering campus soccer teams or setting foot on the public athletic field;
4. In 2015, kicking a student photojournalist out of the music building from a book event when an author visited campus.
The college administration needs to be more proactive in educating its leadership, department chairs, faculty and staff about student journalists’ rights to cover the news on campus, including accessing areas and events open to students, other campus members and/or the public.
State and federal courts have repeatedly affirmed that student journalists are journalists, with all of the press freedoms and legal protections that are so essential in our democracy. These student journalists serve valuable functions on campus, documenting campus life, holding college leadership accountable and amplifying the voices and perspectives of students. Colleges must treat student journalists with respect as they conduct their reporting and develop their career skills.
The LA City College censorship has been covered by the Los Angeles Times and the Los Angeles Collegian: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-05-24/l-a-city-college-student-journalists-face-censorship
https://issuu.com/collegianwired/docs/collegian_spring_2023_issue4
“It's past time for the college administration to correct this situation. Send out a college-wide legal update on public access, or bring in a public access attorney to teach the faculty and staff at the next inservice,” said Patricia Stark, a retired journalism professor at Santa Barbara City College. “They will learn that this type of discrimination against journalism students would not be allowed against any other group of students engaged in credit- or extra-curricular school-sanctioned activities.”
If you need further information about press freedom on college campuses, feel free to contact the experts who have signed on to this letter in support of the Los Angeles Collegian student journalists. Thank you for your speedy action on this important issue.
Sincerely,
Sharyn Obsatz, Santa Monica College journalism, Online News Association Los Angeles
Patricia Stark, past president of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges and the Santa Barbara Community College Academic Senate
Student Press Law Center
California News Publishers Association
Journalism Association of Community Colleges
Dan Shelley, President & CEO, The Radio Television Digital News Association
Los Angeles Press Club
National Association of Black Journalists of Los Angeles
Society of Professional Journalists Los Angeles
Southern California Journalism Education Association
First Amendment Coalition
Matt Pearce, President, Media Guild of the West, The NewsGuild-CWA Local 39213
Marie De Jesus, President, National Press Photographers Association (NPPA)
Robert J. Lopez, Board Member, CCNMA Latino Journalists of California
Reed Saxon, President, Press Photographers Association of Greater Los Angeles, retired AP staff photographer
Nicole Vargas, President, Journalism Association of Community Colleges and San Diego City College journalism professor
Rich Cameron, retired journalism instructor and past president of the Journalism Association of Community Colleges
Jessica Langlois, SoCal Captain of Journalism and Women Symposium, Fullerton College journalism professor and faculty senator
Eleni Economides Gastis, Laney College journalism department chair, UC Berkeley Local News Fellowship Advisory Board
Jessica Fuller, Mt. San Antonio College journalism professor
Jill Connelly, Pierce College media arts department chair
Anne Belden, Santa Rosa Junior College journalism faculty
Jen Vernon, Sierra College communication studies and journalism professor
Melissa Korber, Las Positas College journalism and media studies faculty
Matt Schoenmann, Riverside City College Viewpoints co-adviser