June 21, 2005

Paper pledges dedication to readers
Staff Editorial, Northern Star: Northern Illinois U.

College journalists were dealt a major blow Monday when the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit handed down a ruling in the Governors State University student newspaper case.

GSU is a school in University Park, Ill., which became the source of controversy in 2000 when the staff of the Innovator, the student newspaper at GSU, refused to submit to prior review -- fancy words for censorship.

To make a long story short, the aforementioned court ruled Monday that the principles of the 1988 Hazelwood v. Kuhlmeier case applied in the GSU case. In the Hazelwood case the Supreme Court ruled censorship of high-school newspapers was allowable under the First Amendment.

Student journalists at college newspapers across the nation have to be concerned with the decision. Basically the court of appeals said college newspapers can be censored. You, the readers of the Northern Star, do not have to worry about this newspaper being censored.

All of our revenue comes from selling advertising space in the pages of our newspaper. We do not accept student fees. We are completely self-sufficient, and therefore Northern Illinois University administrators cannot argue that the Star is part of the university and should be subject to prior review.

If anything, Monday's decision in the GSU case gives us even more motivation to report the news to our readers. Not only that, but report the news that maybe some higher-ups do not think should be printed. We owe it to you to print what needs to be printed.

We realize that we are fortunate to work at a free newspaper. No one tells us what to print. No one tells us what not to print. Students decide on all the content you see in these pages. That is a great responsibility, and as the fall semester rolls around, you will see a renewed commitment by the Star to bring you the highest quality newspaper that we can.