The Freedom of Information Committee of the Society of Professional Journalists’ Northern California Chapter denounces Lowell High School administrators’ choice to remove educator Eric Gustafson from his roles as journalism teacher and student newspaper adviser in apparent retaliation for a critical story published by student journalists.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, Gustafson was stripped of his adviser role after a meeting with school administrators in which he and student editors were reprimanded for the publication of a story detailing students’ accounts of verbal harassment by teachers. Gustafson and several student editors say they were also pressured to give the administration advance review of future editions.
No newsroom would, or should, accede to demands for advance review by a powerful entity under journalistic scrutiny. We sincerely hope Gustafson’s successor will reject that demand and protect the integrity of The Lowell’s reporters.
We join the Journalism Education Association of Northern California in warning that a reassignment motivated by the student paper’s critical editorial content would be a clear violation of state law, which protects student freedom of expression and shields student newspaper advisers from retaliatory reassignment.
Lowell administrators deny that the students’ reporting motivated Gustafson’s removal from the adviser position. If that is the case, we call on the Lowell administration to resolve whatever internal matter may have prompted the reassignment of responsibilities and restore Gustafson to the positions he has held for the last eight years, to correct the misunderstanding and restore trust in the administration’s commitment to first amendment rights on campus.
SPJ NorCal’s Freedom of Information Committee (SPJ NorCal FOIC) is a three-decades-old group within the Society of Professional Journalists Northern California chapter — comprised of SPJ NorCal member volunteers — fighting for press rights, open access, and government transparency in our region.