National Conference on the First Amendment; Duquesne University, October 21 - October 22, 2018

"National Conference on the First Amendment

Sunday, October 21 - Monday, October 22, 2018
Duquesne University Power Center Ballroom

[Kip Currier: Just listened virtually (see the link at the bottom of this post!) to the National Conference on the First Amendment's Monday morning panels comprised of a diverse array of newspaper editors (New York Times, Washington Post, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), university presidents (Morehouse College, University of Chicago, University of Virginia), and other 1st Amendment and national security experts from government, industry, and the academy. Hearing the thoughts of these impressive thought leaders was enlightening, thought-provoking, AND energizing. I'll be blogging about some of the sessions in the near future. Hopefully, the videos of these sessions will be made available--and transcripts would be a great resource as well!]

"Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances."

- The First Amendment to the United States Constitution

The National Conference on the First Amendment: Bedrock of American Freedoms will shine a light on the critical importance of the First Amendment in a free and democratic society, to open a dialogue with Americans about the First Amendment and its central role in maintaining the viability of our democratic institutions and to help diverse audiences recognize that we, as Americans, still share foundational values. At a time when incivility and disregard for foundational principles have become the norm in our society, all Americans—regardless of ideology or politics—can find common ground in a national celebration of the First Amendment.
This conference will devote attention to all aspects of our basic freedoms, including freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of religion, the right to peaceably assemble and to government petition. The conference also will cover modern technology, social media and more. With the help of some of the best minds in the country, the conference will challenge us to rediscover the central role that the First Amendment plays in our American democracy.
Speakers and panelists include nationally known experts in journalism, politics, law, higher education and civic advocacy. For complete details, see the conference agenda.

Live Webcast

In addition, the conference will be webcast live on Oct. 21-22 for those unable to attend in person."

What Flake got right — and wrong; Washington Post, January 17, 2018

Jennifer Rubin, Washington Post; What Flake got right — and wrong

"Flake gave an impressive and far-reaching speech indicting Trump’s web of lies and the damage his international pals (e.g., Vladimir Putin) are doing to freedom of the press. He correctly admonished his Senate colleagues that undermining truth strengthens the hand of despots. Give him credit — but only partial credit. Elected Republicans engage in much of the same anti-truth propaganda as the president does. The evening programming of an entire TV cable “news” network is dedicated to conspiracy theories, misleading information about immigrants and terrorists, and refusal to cover facts that contradict the president’s tropes.

Trump did not materialize out of thin air. He masterfully manipulated white grievance and anti-elite conspiracy-mongering. But the ground was plowed by many of Flake’s colleagues and by Republicans’ self-selected news outlets. Getting rid of Trump will help, but unless and until the mind-set that permeates the right is dismantled, the war on the truth will rage on."

Peter Thiel’s Self-Serving New York Times Column; The Atlantic, 8/16/16

Adrienne LaFrance, The Atlantic; Peter Thiel’s Self-Serving New York Times Column:

"Peter Thiel has no regrets about pouring millions of dollars of his own money into the legal fight that bankrupted Gawker Media. “I am proud to have contributed financial support,” Thiel wrote in The New York Times on Monday, “… and I would gladly support someone else in the same position.”...

“The press is too important to let its role be undermined by those who would search for clicks at the cost of the profession’s reputation,” Thiel wrote for the Times this week. What he seems not to understand is that freedom of the press means that editorial decisions are made in newsrooms, not by venture capitalists or presidential candidates hellbent on revenge. Thiel could have “fought speech with speech,” instead of with $10 million, Marcus Wohlsen wrote for Wired in June. “In seeking to destroy Gawker, Thiel showed that what matters to him isn’t freedom but the raw exercise of power.”

And in writing for the Times this week, Thiel showed that he’s not as concerned with protecting privacy as he is with serving up a narrative that he believes justifies his actions."

How Benjamin Netanyahu Is Crushing Israel’s Free Press; New York Times, 7/30/16

Ruth Margalit, New York Times; How Benjamin Netanyahu Is Crushing Israel’s Free Press:

"In its annual report released this spring, Freedom House, an American democracy advocacy organization, downgraded Israel’s freedom of the press ranking from “free” to “partly free.” To anyone following Israeli news media over the past year and a half, this was hardly surprising. Freedom House focused primarily on the “unchecked expansion” of paid content in editorial pages, as well as on the outsize influence of Israel Hayom (“Israel Today”), a free daily newspaper owned by the American casino magnate Sheldon Adelson and widely believed to promote the views of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu...

The only heartening thing in all this is that news outlets are pushing back to maintain their independence. Investigative “60 Minutes”-type programs like “Uvda” (“Fact”) and “Hamakor” (“The Source”) continue to delve into government corruption and to air in prime-time slots. “Despite the assault on the press, the Israeli media remains very critical, very aggressive, and has a lot of chutzpah. It’s a kind of basic instinct that’s part of our DNA,” Ms. Dayan, who hosts Uvda, told me."

This Silicon Valley Billionaire Has Been Secretly Funding Hulk Hogan's Lawsuits Against Gawker; Forbes, 5/24/16

Ryan Mac, Forbes; This Silicon Valley Billionaire Has Been Secretly Funding Hulk Hogan's Lawsuits Against Gawker:

"The involvement of Thiel, an eccentric figure in Silicon Valley who has advocated for teenagers to skip college and openly supported Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, adds another wrinkle to a case that has garnered widespread attention for its implications over celebrity privacy and a publication’s First Amendment rights. During court proceedings, which ended in late March with a $140 million victory for Hogan, there had been rumors that a wealthy individual had funded Hogan’s case though there was never any hard evidence that surfaced to prove that was true.

On Tuesday, in an interview with The New York Times, Gawker founder Nick Denton said he had a “personal hunch” that the financial aid could be linked to someone in Silicon Valley. “If you’re a billionaire and you don’t like the coverage of you, and you don’t particularly want to embroil yourself any further in a public scandal, it’s a pretty smart, rational thing to fund other legal cases,” he told the Times.

It is not illegal for an outside entity to help fund another party’s lawsuit, and the practice, known as “third-party litigation funding” has become increasingly common in the U.S. Typically, the outside party negotiates for a defined share of any proceeds from the suit."

Turkey’s Crackdown on Critics of Erdogan Snares Dutch Journalist; New York Times, 4/24/16

Tim Arango, New York Times; Turkey’s Crackdown on Critics of Erdogan Snares Dutch Journalist:

"[Ebru Umar, a Dutch journalist] is the latest on a growing list of journalists, academics, cartoonists and others — nearly 2,000 cases have been filed in Turkish courts — who have faced the Turkish justice system for insulting Mr. Erdogan. The crime carries a sentence of four years in prison. Ms. Umar was detained just as European leaders, including Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, and Donald Tusk, the president of the European Council, were wrapping up a visit to Turkey to highlight progress in its pact with the European Union over the migrant crisis.

Turkey’s clampdown on the news media has increasingly become intertwined with Europe’s attempts to cooperate with Turkey on the migrant issue. European leaders, especially Ms. Merkel, are facing criticism that they are betraying European values in a bid to win over Mr. Erdogan."

Europe’s Web Privacy Rules: Bad for Google, Bad for Everyone; New York Times, 4/25/16

Daphne Keller and Bruce D. Brown, New York Times; Europe’s Web Privacy Rules: Bad for Google, Bad for Everyone:

"Privacy is a real issue, and shouldn’t be ignored in the Internet age. But applying those national laws to the Internet needs to be handled with more nuance and concern. These developments should not be driven only by privacy regulators. State departments, trade and justice ministries and telecom regulators in France and other European countries should be demanding a place at the table. So should free-expression advocates.

One day, international agreements may sort this all out. But we shouldn’t Balkanize the Internet in the meantime. Once we’ve erected barriers online, we might not be able to tear them down."

Most College Students Want Free Speech On Campuses — But Not When It’s Hate Speech; Huffington Post, 4/4/16

Marina Fang, Huffington Post; Most College Students Want Free Speech On Campuses — But Not When It’s Hate Speech:

"College students want free speech on their campuses but want their administrators to intervene when it turns into hate speech, though they disagree on whether college campuses are open environments and on how the media should cover campus protests, according to a new Gallup survey on the First Amendment released Monday.

About 78 percent of students surveyed said that colleges should allow “all types of speech and viewpoints,” while 22 percent noted that “colleges should prohibit biased or offensive speech in the furtherance of a positive learning environment.”"

Jury Awards Hulk Hogan $115 Million In Gawker Sex Tape Lawsuit; Huffington Post, 3/18/16

Chris D'Angelo, Huffington Post; Jury Awards Hulk Hogan $115 Million In Gawker Sex Tape Lawsuit:

"A Florida jury has sided with Hulk Hogan in the lawsuit the former professional wrestler filed against Gawker Media, awarding him $115 million in damages — $15 million more than he sought.

Hogan, whose real name is Terry Bollea, sued Gawker in 2012 after the online media outlet published an excerpt of a video showing Bollea having sex with the wife of his then-best friend, Bubba The Love Sponge Clem. Hogan and his attorneys alleged publishing the video was an invasion of his privacy. Gawker argued the clip was newsworthy and protected by the First Amendment."

Three missing Hong Kong booksellers to be freed on bail, say police; Associated Press via Guardian, 3/3/16

Associated Press via Guardian; Three missing Hong Kong booksellers to be freed on bail, say police:

"Three of five missing Hong Kong booksellers will be freed on bail soon while mainland Chinese authorities continue their investigation, police have said.

Lui Por, Cheung Chi-ping and Lam Wing-kee will be “released on bail pending investigation in the coming few days”, said Hong Kong police in a brief notice late on Wednesday, based on information from the public security department in neighbouring Guangdong province.

The disappearances of the three, along with two other men, Swedish citizen Gui Minhai and British citizen Lee Bo, have drawn international attention over fears Beijing is eroding the semi-autonomous Chinese city’s rule of law and civil liberties, such as freedom of the press.

The publishing company that the five are associated with specialised in books on sensitive Chinese political topics that proved popular with visitors from the mainland, where they were prohibited from sale."

[Podcast] Act One. Trickle Down History; This American Life, 1/14/11

[Podcast] This American Life; Act One. Trickle Down History:

"Reporter Starlee Kine observes what would have happened if the U.S.-led invasion of Grenada in 1983 had been decided not by Ronald Reagan, but by a bunch of middle schoolers...and she remembers a class trip to the Nixon library, where Nixon aide HR Haldeman spoke. (20 minutes)"