Free Speech Week

About Free Speech Week

Free Speech Week is a nonpartisan, non-ideological event designed to raise awareness and celebrate the importance of free speech and a free press in the United States. This year Free Speech Week is October 21-27, 2024.

News/Media Alliance is a Free Speech Week partner, along with a variety of organizations and educational institutions that believe in the value of freedom of speech and a free press. Click here to view a list of Free Speech Week Partners.

Partners offer resources and host activities during Free Speech Week, including webinars, quizzes, contests and more. Click here for ideas on how your organization can participate in Free Speech Week.

For more information about Free Speech Week, visit www.freespeechweek.org

Free Speech/Free Press Content

Alliance Free Press page

View all News/Media Alliance posts about free speech and freedom of the press.

Supreme Court Watch: Free Press Focus (2023) – For decades, the Supreme Court’s decisions have both extended and restricted free press protections through the interpretation of the First Amendment in cases that have come before it. The Court continues to hear such cases to this day. The News/Media Alliance monitors these cases and participates in amicus briefs where appropriate, in an effort to protect the rights of news and magazine media.

Infographic: The History of Press Freedom in America (See right)

Alliance Opposes Bill Restricting Journalists’ Right of Access (July 11, 2022) – The Alliance joined a letter by the National Press Photographers Association asking Arizona Gov. Douglas Ducey to veto a recently passed Bill that makes it illegal to film a law enforcement officer within eight feet of the officer without permission, explaining that the bill likely “violates not only the free speech and press clauses of the First Amendment,” but also “runs counter to the ‘clearly established right’ to photograph and record police officers performing their official duties in a public place.”

“Why Students Need the Full First Amendment,” Free Speech Week column by News/Media Alliance Fall/Winter 2020 Alliance communications intern, Jennifer Nehrer (2020) – “In order to ensure that student voices are heard, schools should not limit the freedoms of speech that are given to citizens outside of the schoolyard.”

The PRESS Act

The bi-partisan Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, or “PRESS Act,” (H.R. 4330) would establish reasonable ground rules for when the government can obtain confidential source information from the media and their third-party service providers. The Act was originally introduced in 2021 by Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) following reports that the Department of Justice was misusing statutes to obtain information from and about journalists. The safeguards enumerated in the PRESS Act are critical to supporting and maintaining a free and independent press.

News/Media Alliance and 100+ Media and Press Rights Organizations Call on Congress to Advance the PRESS Act (October 2024)

News/Media Alliance Joins Media Letter in Calling for Senate to Advance the PRESS Act (June 2024)

Statement: News/Media Alliance Applauds Passage of PRESS Act in House (January 2024)

The Journalist Protection Act

On May 3, 2023, World Press Freedom Day, Senators Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) and Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA-14) introduced the Journalist Protection Act in the House and Senate. The bill would strengthen protections for journalists by making intentionally harming or intimidating a working journalist a federal crime.

Watch: News Take: Free Press Focus: Preventing Another Capital Gazette Shooting: Why We Need The Journalist Protection Act