The following information was provided by James Tidwell at Eastern Illinois. He is a longtime member of the CMA Media Law committee.
The Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (aka-Buckley Amendment) applies to “colleges and universities” releasing information. Certainly at public schools, the courts have made it clear that would student editors make decisions, they are not “government actors.” Thus, for FERPA purposes information released by a student media organization is not information released by the university. The same argument can be made for private schools that give student media the authority to make content decisions. In addition, the Department of Education in the past has made it clear it will not try to enforce FERPA when student media release information. Remember, individuals do not have the right to sue under FERPA. The sole method of enforcement of the law is for the DOE to withdraw federal funds from the school.
