On Tuesday, January 27, a proposal to advocate for student journalist rights was stopped from moving forward in Utah due to legislator concerns.

The H.B. 227 Student Journalist Amendments bill “establishes standards for student expression in school-sponsored media and limits school liability for student-produced content.” (1) School administration would only be permitted to block or censor the publication of student journalism if it was “obscene, libelous, or slanderous, violates the law or creates a needless invasion of privacy.” (2) In simpler terms, student journalists would get a limited expansion of their rights, and the school’s liability for student-produced content would be removed.

Milan Venegas, a former Timpview student and Thunderbolt staff writer, has been a big contributor in the making of this bill. “I reached out to Representative Moss back in June of 2025 about the bill. I proposed the bill to her and asked if she would take it on. She said yes, and we’ve been working on it ever since.”

His advocacy for student journalist rights was sparked during his senior year, while enrolled as a student journalist for the Timpview Thunderbolt. “I was a journalism student […] and I remember my peers facing censorship themselves. I got inspired to do this bill after researching about the censorship student journalists face.” shares Venegas. “I ended up reaching out to multiple journalism programs across the state, and finding out that this issue wasn’t only happening at Timpview.”

The committee hearing tabled bill H.B. 227 for the session. Despite the disappointment, Venegas continues to advocate the importance of student journalist rights. “I believe that freedom of the press isn’t just important to democracy, but is democracy. Teaching and learning about student journalism is how we learn democracy. It makes us civically involved and informed.”

(1) https://le.utah.gov/~2026/bills/static/HB0227.html

(2) https://ksltv.com/politics-elections/utah-legislature/student-journalism-utah/871560/