Section 1. Title - This Act shall be known and referred to as the “Campus Journalism Act of 1991”.
Section 2. Declaration of Policy. It is declared a policy of the State to uphold and protect the freedom of the press even on the campus level and promote the development and growth of campus journalism as a means of strengthening ethical values, encouraging critical and creative thinking, and developing moral character and personal discipline of the Filipino youth. In furtherance of this policy, the State shall undertake various programs and projects aimed at improving the journalistic skills of the students concerned and promoting responsible and free journalism.
Section 3. Definition of terms.
School - An institution for learning in the elementary, secondary or tertiary level comprised of the studentry, administration, faculty, andnon-faculty personnel.
Student Publication - The issue of any printed material that is independently published by, and which administration, faculty, and non-faculty personnel.
Student Journalists - Any bonafide student enrolled for the current semester of term, who has passed or met the qualification and standard of the editorial board. He must likewise maintain a satisfactory academic standing.
Editorial Board - In the tertiary level, the editorial board shall be composed of student journalists who have qualified in the placement examinations. In the case of the elementary and high school levels, the editorial board shall be composed of a duly appointed faculty adviser, the editor who qualified and a representative of the Parents Teachers Association, who will determine the editorial policies to be implemented by the editor and staff members of the student publication concerned. At the tertiary level, the editorial board may include a publication adviser at the option of its members.
Editorial Policies - A set of guidelines by which a student publication is operated and managed, taking into account any pertinent laws as well as the school administration policies. Said guidelines shall determine the frequency of publication the manner of selecting the articles and features and other similar matters.
Section 4. Student Publications - A student publication is published by the student body through an editorial board and publication staff composed of students selected by fair and competitive examinations. Once the publication is established, its editorial board shall freely determine its editorial policies and manage the publication funds.
Section 5. Funding of Student Publication - funding for the student may include the savings of the respective school appropriations, student subscription, donations and other resources of funds.In no instance shall the Department of Education, Culture and Sports or the school administration concerned withhold the release of funds sourced from the savings of the appropriations of the respective schools and other sources intended for the student publication. Subscription fees collected by the school administration shall be released automatically to the student publication concerned.
Section 6. Publication Adviser - publication adviser shall be selected by the school Administration from a list of recommendees submitted by the publication staff. The function of the adviser shall be limited to one of technical guidance.
Section 7. Security of Tenure - A member of the publication staff must maintain his or her status as a student in order to retain membership in the publication staff. As student shall not be expelled or suspended solely on the basis of articles he or she has written, or on the basis of performance of his or her duties in the student publication.
Section 8. Press Conference and Training Seminars - The Department of Education, Culture and Sports shall sponsor periodic competitions, press conferences and training seminars in which student editor/s writers and teacher adviser of student publications in the elementary, secondary and tertiary levels shall participate. Such competitions, conferences, and seminars shall be held at the institutional, divisional and regional levels, culminating with the holding of the annual national elementary, secondary or tertiary School Press Conference in places of historical and/or cultural interest in the country.
Section 9. Rules and Regulations - The Department of Education, Culture and Sports in Coordination with the officers of the national elementary, secondary and tertiary organizations or official advisers of student publications, together with journalists at the tertiary level and existing organizations of student journalists, shall promulgate the rules and regulations necessary for the implementation of this act.