Censorship of story about alleged diesel cancer link wins student newspaper editor prestigious national journalism award

Diesel Fuel News, Nov 24, 2003

Censorship of Story About Alleged Diesel Cancer Link Wins Student Newspaper Editor Prestigious National Journalism Award: Katy Dean, former managing editor of the Utica (Mich.) High School newspaper, won the National Scholastic Press Association Award this month for her censored story about a lawsuit over an alleged link between diesel emissions from the school's buses and a man's fatal cancer (see Diesel Fuel News 4/29/02, p9).

While no conclusive proof linking bus emissions with the cancer case was established, the family of the deceased later settled its lawsuit against the school. Dean's story about the case later was published in a local newspaper when the school refused to print it. American Civil Liberties Union eventually sued the school over its censorship, with Dean as the plaintiff. Dean also won a $5,000 prize for the "Courage in Student Journalism Award."