Tattler (student newspaper)

2025-09-02T01:34:41Z

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{{Short description|Student newspaper of Ithaca High School in New York}}
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{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2025}}
[[Image:Tattler20040909 01-11 14-23.png|thumb|200px|The cover of the September 9, 2004 ''Tattler''.]] __NOTOC__

''The '''Tattler'''''<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Tattler |url=https://ihstattler.com/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=The Tattler |language=en-US}}</ref> is the [[student newspaper]] of [[Ithaca High School (Ithaca, New York)|Ithaca High School]] in [[Ithaca, New York]]. Founded in 1892, it is one of the oldest student newspapers in the United States. It is published ten times a year and has a circulation of about 3,000, with distribution in both the school and in the community.

The ''Tattler'' has thrice (in 2005, 2007, and 2025) won the Ithaca High School Class/Ithaca Public Education Initiative "Support Our School Community Award," an award given to the extracurricular activity "which has had the most positive impact on IHS".<ref>"News Briefs", ''The Tattler'', June 2005; ''Briefly in Tompkins,'' The [[Ithaca Journal]], August 9, 2007.</ref>

==2005 controversy==
In 2004 and early 2005 ''The Tattler'' published a number of controversial articles, most notably several articles critical of the Ithaca High School administration and a restaurant review that some considered [[racism|racist]]. In response, in January 2005 the [[Ithaca City School District]] issued a set of guidelines, declaring ''The Tattler'' a school-sponsored publication and giving its faculty adviser considerably greater power to edit or remove objectionable material.

A cartoon intended for the February 2005 issue, which included stick-figure depictions of sexual positions was removed by ''The Tattler's'' faculty advisor, Stephanie Vinch. The student editors refused to allow a "censored" version of the issue to be published, and appealed the decision to IHS principal [[Joseph M. Wilson|Joe Wilson]] and ICSD superintendent Judith Pastel. Both Wilson and Pastel ultimately rejected the appeals, also finding the cartoon lewd and inappropriate for the student newspaper. Vinch soon resigned her position as faculty advisor, halting publication of ''The'' ''Tattler''. Principal Wilson closed ''The'' ''Tattler'' office in the school.[[Image:TattlerOldLogo.gif|thumb|200px|The ''Tattler's'' logo from the mid-1930s through the late 1960s.]]Publication of ''The'' ''Tattler'' went underground, running out of editor-in-chief Rob Ochshorn's house. The student staff produced a complete underground March issue, which the high school administration denied permission to distribute on school grounds because it contained the same cartoon that was earlier deemed obscene. The editors also created underground issues for April and May, which did not contain the controversial cartoon, which the school allowed them to distribute on school grounds.

IHS [[mathematics]] and [[computer science]] teacher Roselyn Teukolsky was named interim faculty advisor for ''The'' ''Tattler'' and the student staff produced the June 2005 issue back on school grounds.

Later that month, the student editors sued the Ithaca City School District, Superintendent Pastel, Principal Wilson, and Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction Bill Russell, alleging they violated the student editors’ First Amendment press rights by censoring the February issue cartoon, prohibiting campus distribution of the underground March issue, and imposing guidelines that required pre-publication approval by the faculty adviser. On March 23, 2009, the federal trial court ruled that the district could prohibit publication and campus distribution of the cartoon, but denied summary judgment regarding the guidelines, ruling that the issue would require a trial.

The students appealed the district court's decision. In ''R.O. v. Ithaca City School District'',<ref>{{Cite web |title=R.O., et al. v. Ithaca City Sch. Dist., No. 09-1651 (2d Cir. 2011) |url=https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca2/09-1651/09-1651-cv_opn-2011-05-18.html |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Justia Law |language=en}}</ref> 645 F.3d 533, 269 Ed. Law Rep. 464 (2nd Cir. 2011), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld the school district's censorship of the cartoon and held that the editorial guidelines did not violate the First Amendment, relying on [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] decisions in ''[[Bethel School District v. Fraser|Bethel School District Number 403 v. Fraser]]'', 478 U.S. 675, 683, 106 S.Ct. 3159, 92 L.Ed.2d 549 (1986) (First Amendment does not prevent school district from disciplining high school student for giving lewd speech at school assembly) and ''[[Hazelwood School District v. Kuhlmeier|Hazelwood School District vs. Kuhlmeier]],'' 484 U.S. 260, 108 S.Ct. 562, 98 L.Ed.2d 592 (1988) (schools may exercise editorial control over student speech in school-sponsored activities if "reasonably related to legitimate pedagogical concerns").

The Supreme Court denied review.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Supreme Court of the United States - petition denied |url=https://www.supremecourt.gov/Search.aspx?FileName=/docketfiles/11-225.htm |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=www.supremecourt.gov}}</ref>

The school district revised the editorial guidelines in 2009 to mimic the language in ''Fraser'' and ''Hazelwood'' and the plaintiffs tried again to invalidate the new guidelines. In 2014, the federal district court dismissed the case as moot. ''R.O v. Ithaca City Sch. Dist.'', 5:05-CV-695 (NAM/ATB) (N.D.N.Y. Oct. 23, 2014).<ref>{{Cite web |last=Schiffbauer |first=Anna |date=2014-11-05 |title=N.Y. Judge ends 9-year legal battle in high school newspaper censorship suit |url=http://splc.org/2014/11/judge-ends-9-year-legal-battle-in-high-school-newspaper-censorship-suit/ |access-date=2023-09-10 |website=Student Press Law Center |language=en-US}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*{{Official website|http://www.ihstattler.com}}
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070928130011/http://www.tattleralumni.org/ Alumni & Friends of the Tattler]
*[http://www.rmozone.com/tattlerwiki Wiki about the Tattler case]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tattler (Student Newspaper)}}
[[Category:Newspapers published in New York (state)]]
[[Category:Newspapers established in 1892]]
[[Category:High school newspapers published in the United States]]

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Tattler (student newspaper)