Students demand more access to journalism at NYC public schools

Published Apr 19, 2024 at 2:59 p.m. ET

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Published Apr 19, 2024 at 2:59 p.m. ET

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Student journalism opportunities at New York City’s public schools tend to be limited to whiter and more affluent schools – and a group of kids wants to change that.

Scores of students with the NYC Youth Journalism Coalition gathered on the steps of City Hall Thursday alongside administrators of CUNY’s Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism, calling for more opportunities to publish student newspapers and podcasts.

They pointed to a 2022 Baruch College study showing only 27% of the city’s public schools have a newspaper. The research also found schools with higher poverty rates and more Black and Hispanic students are less likely to support student journalism. Only 7% of the surveyed high schools with the highest poverty rate had newspapers.

Fredlove Deshommes, a junior at Urban Assembly School for Law and Justice, said she has never attended a school with a journalism program. But through the nonprofit The Bell, which gives young students reporting experience, she was able to produce a podcast focusing on the “journalism gap” at city schools.

“The access to journalism that I've had has been limited," she said. "So I've had to really fight to get these opportunities."

CUNY’s J school is developing a new curriculum and teacher training program as part of a new elective. Students urged the education department to support the program’s adoption at their schools.

“They will learn critical thinking and communication skills that will serve them no matter what path they choose,” Jere Hester, a journalism professor at CUNY, and founding editor of THE CITY, said. “And perhaps most importantly, they will become active members of their school community, equipped and empowered to speak truth to power.”

He said the free curriculum for New York City Public Schools should be rolled out starting in spring 2025. Schools would have to apply for access to the curriculum and professional development.

Students said promoting journalism opportunities in the public schools is necessary to increase diversity within the field, where journalists of color currently make up only 22% of the workforce.

“Journalism was the megaphone that I needed to make sure that my voice was being heard, not only to validate my own personal learned experiences, but the learned experiences of my fellow peers,” Deshommes said.

She said her school plans to start a news site of its own next year.

Department of Education spokesperson Nicole Brownstein said it’s up to principals to decide whether to fund a newspaper or other journalism program. The education department does not track how many schools have student newspapers.

But she said officials strongly support student journalism and have sought to engage teen reporters.

“Since the beginning of this administration, we are proud to have hosted student journalist round tables and participated in student-run podcasts, “ she said. “Students are our eyes and ears at our schools and amplifying student voices is a priority of this administration.”

But teens said they have also encountered censorship at their schools and are pushing state lawmakers to pass legislation protecting their First Amendment rights. The bill would give final editorial control to student journalists and their advisors unless the content is libelous or otherwise violates school policy.

“Right now we are subject to the whims of the administration, of the advisor,” said Bronx High School of Science junior Liza Greenberg, managing editor of their news site The Science Survey.

“This bill to protect student journalists that we've been trying to pass for seven years would mean that not only it protects the student journalists to publish real, true factual journalism, but it also protects people like the advisors and the other people in the equation who right now are worried about letting their students publish these stories because they can face criticism and they can face backlash.”

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Jessica is the education reporter for WNYC and Gothamist. During the Covid-19 pandemic, Jessica reported on the shutdown and reopening of the nation’s largest school system, highlighting the unprecedented impacts on learning, health and mental health for students, staff and families. Got a tip? Email [email protected]

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