Recording now available! – Hosted by Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon, a panel will discuss the importance of protecting press freedom, the recent uptick in violence against journalists in the U.S., and our path forward.
The First Amendment enshrines fundamental freedoms so core to our democracy that they must be honored. But the First Amendment has limits, and non-government entities that are granted the ability and power to spread speech must not be immune to the repercussions of their actions. The most powerful market actors should not be allowed to censor or silence free speech, or promote false, potentially harmful information with no accountability.
Today’s guilty verdict of Filpino journalist Maria Ressa is a terrible setback in the ongoing quest to protect and preserve press freedom around the world.
We applaud Reps. Scanlon and Schiff for recognizing and reaffirming journalists’ Constitutional rights and calling for the protection of these journalists, who are risking their lives to bring critical news and information to the public.
On February 19, 2020, Alliance President & CEO David Chavern will testify at the Department of Justice Workshop on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
We strongly support Australia’s Right to Know media freedom campaign, set to launch on October 20, which calls for ending the criminalization of journalists working to report the truth and to hold accountable the Australian government and those in positions of power.
On September 23, free-press advocates from the National Press Club Journalism Institute and Reporters Without Borders, along with more than 100 volunteers (including myself), canvassed Capitol Hill to ask legislators to support efforts to free American journalist Austin Tice, who has been held captive in Syria since 2012.
As we celebrate National Newspaper Week, we are raising awareness about our five First Amendment freedoms, as outlined in the U.S. Constitution — freedom of the press, speech, religion, petition and assembly — and the ways the news media help promote and protect those freedoms. Those five freedoms seem so basic, and we sometimes may take them for granted, but there are surprisingly few channels that allow us to exercise all five freely.
Regardless of whether or not Julian Assange is a “journalist,” the May 23 indictment of Assange crosses a clear constitutional line. In the 102-year history of the Espionage Act, the United States has never deployed that Act to punish the publication of information. An interpretation of the Espionage Act to criminally punish publication of information plainly violates the First Amendment.
The News Media Alliance applauds Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Robert Menendez (D-NJ) and Representative Eric Swalwell (D-CA) for bicameral introduction the Journalist Protection Act.
