Lexington Books Private Schools and Student Media: Supporting Mission, Students, and Community

Private Schools and Student Media: Support Mission, Students, and Community explores the activities of student media outlets, content creators and advisers in K-12 private schools in the United States. The unique nature of private schools, separate from government funding but not all government oversight, creates its own opportunities and challenges for students seeking their own outlets to pursue questions, answers and voice. Through surveys and content analysis of schools, student media advisers and student media work, Erica Salkin explores the reality of censorship in private schools-where the First Amendment does not play the same role as in public schools-and the perspectives of teachers who dedicate time, effort, and expertise to make the learning laboratory of the student newspaper or yearbook a reality. Ultimately, this book proposes that student media can be a significant asset to a private school's mission, students, and school community: to prepare young people for lives of service and good citizenship. Scholars of communication, media studies, journalism, and education will find this book particularly useful. Review Erica Salkin offers authoritative and thoughtful reflections on not only the potential of extending First Amendment protection to private schools, but also why that's vital: her interviews of private high school media advisers alone are worth picking up this book. Their anecdotes, relayed in their own words, powerfully reminded me why I do research in this area - to help ensure that advisers everywhere can continue training the next generation of American citizens, critical thinkers, and voters.--Genelle I. Belmas, University of Kansas Erica Salkin provides a much-needed window into the world of private school scholastic media. By examining it from multiple angles - historical origins, content analysis, interviews with media advisers, summary of the limited legal protections, to name just a few - she helps paint a 360-degree portrait of the reality of life producing journalism in a private secondary school. This is a work that I know I'll refer to over and over again.--Mark Goodman, Kent State University About the Author Erica Salkin is associate professor of communication studies at Whitworth University.