The Origins of New Voices USA: A Lesson in Teaching Advocacy to Improve Teaching and Learning

For more than 30 years, student journalists’ freedom of expression has been in flux. Freedom of expression is central to journalism education. Without this freedom, teaching students the courage and truth telling central to the profession becomes impossible. To reinstate compromised freedoms, North Dakota student journalists created The John Wall New Voices Act in an undergraduate class based on the teaching of civic and citizen journalism. The New Voices Act (NVA) has exemplified expression legislation across the nation. The purpose of this essay is to document the origins of the NVA and provide a guide for journalism educators when students choose an advocacy-oriented project