News & Opinion

Caitlin Vogus of the Freedom of the Press Foundation, April 2, 2024, reports that already in 2024, there has been four arrests or detentions of journalists covering protests. Police are still routinely detaining journalists in spite of successful lawsuits against law enforcement. But even if the journalists ultimately prevail in court, they are still prevented from covering protests to provide the public with knowledge of important events. When students staged a sit-in at Vanderbilt University

Kimberly Wehle in The Hill, April 3, 2024, argues that ex-president Donald Trump’s claim that his “political speech” is protected by the First Amendment fails under scrutiny. Free speech has its limits particularly when used in criminal behavior, When Trump stated that the 2020 election was stolen and entered into a conspiracy to overturn the election, he could no longer hide behind the First Amendment. American Civil Liberties Union lawyers write that they have defended

As a counter weight to local journalism with a hidden political bias and unknown funders, the nonprofit State Newsroom has emerged with newsrooms in 50 states dedicated to covering state politics and policy. Donors do not dictate editorial opinion and reporters are nonpartisan although the guiding mission is to be progressive without defining what that might be. (Columbia Journalism Review, April 5, 2024, by Cameron Joseph) For related FAC coverage, click here, here and here.

A coalition is mounting a defense against AI-driven lies that could adversely affect the 2024 presidential election. Voters over 65 are particularly vulnerable. Ads are in production for campaigns in swing states of Florida, Pennsylvania, Arizona, Michigan and Wisconsin. (Axios, April 8, 2024, by Ryan Heath) Faking robocalls is now faster and cheaper than even and poses real dangers. A robocall in New Hampshire purported to be in President Joe Biden’s voice and urged voters

Professor Sam Lebovic in Journal of Free Speech Law, April 2024, writes that it is unproductive to think of “fake news as an illegitimate cancerous growth…[and] seek to cut it out of the body politic.” Lebovic argues that “the key task is a broader politics of democratic revitalization, which will include new efforts to improve the “stream of news” by encouraging the production of information in new institutions devoted to that task. Such reform efforts