Under current U.S. legislation, the press freedoms of student journalists remain compromised due to the lack of federal protection available for thousands of high school students and college scholars. This void — one that requires further examination — reveals the need for heightened advocacy. Luckily, the Student Press Law Center (SPLC), the nation’s only legal organization devoted to protecting and advancing student press freedoms, does not stand alone in the fight. For example, the John and Catherine MacArthur Foundation recently donated a generous $500,000 to the SPLC Friday, August 8 to aid their efforts to save fundamental press rights for the upcoming generations of journalists.
The MacArthur Foundation donated these funds in the hope of helping the SPLC reach new goals and further the implementation of the New Voice legislation. Currently, under the influence of Executive Director Gary Green, the SPLC has successfully reached 18 U.S. states which adopted the legislation that welcomes student voices in the media. While Georgia currently lacks the legislation, various advocates continue to search for ways to create New Voices campaigns.
Although Georgia does not participate in the New Voices movement yet, the progress toward adopting the legislation is slowly increasing. For example, while the Georgia legislature adjourned for the remainder of 2025, students from around the state linked arms to create the Georgia New Voices Instagram account. The account follows the Georgia coalition as it fights for student press freedom while also encouraging others to join the movement.
“I think the biggest impact on student journalists is going to be learning how to write and publish news stories in a way that aligns with not only state and federal laws but also board policies. And learning that while yes, we have freedom of speech — sometimes because of the spaces in which we operate — there are also constraints we have to follow. And you just have to learn to tell stories that matter without getting yourself into trouble,” Advanced Placement (AP) English Literature and Composition teacher Alexandra Yeganegi said.
This $500,000 donation will also fund projects and expand legal services and training, while fueling advocacy for young journalists. The SPLC, through the funds, receives the opportunity to deepen its ties with student journalists facing adversity and potential harm to their credibility as they navigate how to report on serious topics. As journalists at the high school and college level persevere through challenges and work with their advisers to succeed in the newsroom, the SPLC continues its efforts to drive writers to follow their passions while also protecting their First Amendment rights.
In addition, the MacArthur donation will help the SPLC’s legal hotline, which helps answer students’ and advisers’ media-related legal questions. For individuals threatened by censorship or lawsuits, this legal hotline provides an outlet for students to express their struggles within newsrooms while still holding the opportunity to report on sensitive topics in a protected manner.
“In the same way you now work on The Chant with your adviser to determine what’s appropriate, we did with our adviser at the time, who was Mrs. Lawson, who just retired [last spring]. I’ve never really felt constrained, but I do recall once [when] I published an article [and I used] data that was the most readily available. Our principal at the time ended up writing me a handwritten note with more updated data [to fix the errors]. He asked me to change it, but there was never a question of what I could write about and publish; it was just always doing everything you can with your journalistic abilities to make sure your information is accurate,” Yeganegi said.
As the SPLC and the MacArthur Foundation work together to solve issues within school boards that rival student journalists, this charitable donation expands the goals of both organizations. While the Georgia coalition, the SPLC and the MacArthur Foundation fight for a similar cause, ordinary individuals can nevertheless support students in the hope of one day seeing a fearless future for prospective journalists.
