Taking the Lede: Colorado Edition鈥攁 45-minute documentary听produced by students and faculty members鈥攈as received a听 in the Broadcast Education Association鈥檚 annual Festival of Media Arts competition.
The documentary听details stories of Colorado听high school journalism听in the wake of the the 1988 Hazelwood Supreme Court decision, which ruled that school administrators could exercise restraint of school-sponsored expression. Colorado was one of听a handful of states to subsequently pass听laws guaranteeing First Amendment rights for听public school students.
The project took , with faculty support, most of 2015 to film and produce.听
"I'm thrilled about the win because my highest hope for this project was to spread awareness for student press rights and encourage other states to adopt anti-Hazelwood laws," said Roxann Elliot, the documentary's student producer.
Taking the Lede听has been shown at high school journalism gatherings across the United States听and has also been distributed to dozens of high school journalism teachers in Colorado for use in their classrooms and in their communities.