For Immediate Release - December 12, 2001

For More Information: Mark Goodman, SPLC Executive Director (703) 807-1904

After almost two years of planning and preparation, the Student Press Law Center today launched a new version of its popular Web site, www.splc.org, with a variety of new features to benefit student journalists and those who work with them.

In addition to the site's much-praised Automated State Open Records Request Letter Generator, the new site includes a powerful search tool that will allow users to find legal research, news stories and court cases to their detailed specifications at the click of a mouse. The site also has a new Virtual Lawyer to guide users to the resources on the site they need.

Among the new content on the site is a section specifically for media advisers, including a Media Adviser's Guide to Fighting Censorship, as well as a Student Media Guide to Advertising Law and a Copyright Duration Calculator.

The site also has added a new SPLC Store, where visitors can purchase SPLC publications and materials through a secure server with a major credit card. SPLC Members will have access to a special section of the site, which will include notice of special deals in the SPLC Store and back issues of the members-only e-mail newsletter, LegalAlert.

As a welcome to the new site, all visitors will have access to the members-only section by using the Username "guest" and the password "splcorg" through January 2002.

The new SPLC Web site was made possible in part by a generous grant from the Freedom Forum as well as financial support from a wide variety of contributors and members who believe in the work of the SPLC.

Since 1974, the Student Press Law Center has been the nation's only legal assistance agency devoted exclusively to educating high school and college journalists about the rights and responsibilities embodied in the First Amendment and supporting the student news media in their struggle to cover important issues free from censorship.