Virginia student papers can have "Happy Hour"?

Alcohol reference bans in student newspapers exist throughout the country. The magistrate in this case not only overturned a long standing rule, but may have offered hope. Will it ignite a flood of similar cases throughout the nation?

I personally work as an advertising manager at a campus paper, and have had this issue come up a few times. My circumstance is unique because drinking, surprisingly, is not as part of the campus culture -- or the state itself -- as most other schools.

The observations I can make, as one who has worked in the business, is restrictions on certain references to alcohol in college media advertising does limit possible revenue, but mostly it just forces more creativity in developing the advertisements. Some have found ways to work around the bans.

Speech of the newspaper staff isn't necessarily limited, usually editorial content about liquor is untouched. It is definitely a question of the commercial speech of the advertisers being violated. The big question is whether or not possibly reducing underage drinking is a compelling enough reason to limit it. The magistrate in this case wasn't convinced alcohol advertisements were directly correlated to underage drinking problems.

If I were to assume my situation applies to most others, many alcohol advertisers -- whether motivated by civic obligation or commercial duty -- will limit themselves in areas where there is a concern.