McCormick Foundation Freedom of Speech Public Service Announcement Winners Announced

The McCormick Foundation journalism program congratulates the winners of the 2009 Freedom of Speech public service announcement (PSA) competition for college communications students. The student-produced PSAs are 30 seconds each and address "What freedom of speech means to me." 

The NAB Education Foundation (NABEF) and the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) recognized the first place winners at the NAB headquarters in Washington D.C. on Oct. 14, 2009. During the luncheon, titled "Freedom of Speech in the Digital Media Arena," the winning students received scholarships in the amounts of $3,000 for first place, $2,000 for second place and $1,000 for third place. 

The winners are:

Television Category
1st Place: Chris Newell, Biola University 
2nd Place: Monique L. Pelletier, New England School of Communications
3rd Place: Michelle Wood, The Art Institute of Atlanta

Radio Category
1st Place: Stuart Mouritzen, USC
2nd Place: Theresa Rozwadowski, Central Michigan University
3rd place: Melodie Turori and Rob Croft, Biola University

The luncheon also featured a panel of broadcasters and journalists. Participants included:

• Blanquita Walsh Cullum, governor, United States Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG)
• Russell C. Hodge, founder, executive producer, 3 Roads Communications, Inc.
• Paul Rodriguez, managing director of media, Burson-Marsteller
• Kevin Z. Smith, president, Society of Professional Journalists, assistant professor of Journalism, Fairmont State University

Timing of the awards is in recognition of National Freedom of Speech Week, October  20-26. NAB and McCormick Foundation encourage stations to air these spots, available for download at the NAB Web site .

Did your station air these spots? Let us know what you think. 

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Sticks and Stones...

"A Twit"
"Cowardly"
"El Esposo Gordo"
They sound like humorous enough insults from afar. But according to the current issue of National Geographic magazine these insults were considered going too far by governments around the globe. These examples of insult laws, provided by the World Press Freedom Committee, show how stifled speech still is in many countries.

Insulting Turkishness is no longer a crime in Turkey, the magazine says. But insulting a public figure, or the republic's founder Ataturk, is.

The kicker? That breaking these insult laws often comes with a hefty price. Sentences have included $10 million in Paraguay and 74 lashes in Iran.

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Senate Takes Pass on Shield Law – For Now

Despite broad bipartisan support from both Congressional houses, Senate leaders decided against taking the Free Flow of Information Act (S. 2035) to the Senate floor yesterday. According to Lucy Dalglish, executive director for Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, the goal of this important bill is to “create a qualified federal shield law that restricts the federal government’s ability to subpoena journalists.”

Despite the procedural delay, Dalglish says the Free Flow Act is still alive. In the past nine months, the Senate Judiciary Committee and full House of Representatives have passed the measure. According to RCFP, a revised version of the bill could be brought to the floor in September.

For more, see www.rcfp.org.

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Ethnic Media + Free Speech

New America Media hosted an ‘eye opening’ forum on the threats that Ethnic Media reporters and editors sometimes face when their reporting upsets their communities. The forum, “A Challenge for Ethnic Media: When Coverage Provokes Threats from Your Own Community,” gathered journalists, editors and publishers of ethnic media to discuss incidents when they have been boycotted, protested, sued, harassed and physically threatened by members of their own communities who wanted to dictate what the ethnic news media could and couldn’t cover.

A reporter for LA’s Koreatown received a letter assuring him that his fingers would be cut off if his coverage of organized crime in his community continued.

Here is an excerpt from the story NAM posted on its web site:
When AsianWeek was embroiled in a controversy over an article attacking African Americans, the vehement opposition came from members of the Asian-American community, [AsianWeek publisher Ted] Fang noted, not from the black community. Asian Americans claimed the publication as a newspaper that spoke for them and demanded a change in top management to prevent other inflammatory stories from being printed in the future.

This dynamic between ethnic media and their audiences can be beneficial, according to Fang: ethnic media tend to have a strong, loyal following. But it also can be a serious challenge when journalists trying to do their job – telling the good as well as the bad about their own community.

To see the NAM piece, visit http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=f68b62db82c0909a0f07e6c12123bea9.

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World 'Divided' on Press Freedom

You have two doors to choose from: #1 is marked press freedom and #2 stability. Choose. Quick. No questions.

Well, some disturbing news for press-freedom advocates: In a global survey that posed essentially that question, about 40 percent said it was more important to maintain social harmony and peace, even if it meant curbing the press’s freedom to report truthfully. That means a lot of people chose option #2.

The survey, which looked at views in 14 countries, also covered:
+ Whether people feel the press can operate freely in their country
+ How good a job respondents feel the press does in covering news accurately
+ The concentration of private media in the hands of fewer large companies.

Interestingly, in the U.S., Britain and Germany, about 29 percent thought the press does a good job of reporting news accurately.

See the study at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/in_depth/7134918.stm

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How the New Attorney General Might View FOIA

Betcha didn’t know that AG nominee Michael Mukasey used to write for United Press International. We imagine an AG who used to be a reporter wouldn’t be a bad thing these days. “Judge Mukasey is the first attorney general nominee in many years to have a firm grounding in the law of the press,” says Lucy Dalglish, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. “We’re optimistic that this will lead to a justice department that is more open to public scrutiny.”

Lucy should know: RCFP has just posted on its Web site an “Evaluation of the likely impact of Attorney General Nominee Michael Mukasey on Press Freedoms and the Public’s Right to Know.” The report goes into detail around Mukasey’s background and history as attorney and judge. Important issues are at stake, with FOIA reforms and reporter’s shield proposal in the balance. See the report by clicking here.

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Free Press on Campus

All college media outlets are deemed to be "a public forum for expression by student journalists and editors," according to a recent bill passed by Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D). The bill also forbids school administrators from exercising prior review, according to the Student Press Law Center (SPLC), even when the media is produced by the school.

The bill comes in response to the Hosty v. Carter case, in which the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2005 that "college-sponsored student publications that are not designated as public forums can be controlled by school administrators in the same way high school officials can control student media on their campuses," SPLC reports.
The law goes into effect in January 2008.

For more information, visit: http://www.splc.org/newsflash.asp?id=1597

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Student Journalism Rights: Step by Step Toward Acceptance?

Oregon Governor Ted Kulongoski signed a law last week that protects Oregon high school students and college journalists from censorship by school administrators and also gives students the right to sue their school if they feel their right to expression has been violated. Click here (http://www.statesmanjournal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707130314 ) for a Statesman Journal (Salem, Ore.) story on the law detailing how:

+ The Oregon law is the country's first in more than a decade to protect high school journalists and the first ever to cover both high school and college journalists under one statute. (This new ruling adds to the list of six states that currently have laws protecting high school journalists from censorship; all were passed before 1996.)

+ A 2005 Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling (Hosty v. Carter) allowed college administrators to impose prior review and restraint on student newspapers if the publication is not a designated public forum for student expression. (This ruling covers three Midwestern states but has been cited by administrators nationwide to justify tightened controls over high school and college publications.)

+ According to the Student Press Law Center, a wave of similar laws is currently being pursued in other states (including Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey and Vermont).

+ Many student press advocates consider the law a victory – yet consider the final version somewhat watered down by amendments (including removal of a provision that would have allowed punishment for administrators that censor student publications, along with another that would have designated college publications public forums.)

To see Warren Watson's piece on this legislation, visit www.jideas.org

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Big Shoes To Fill

Two staunch defenders of press freedom are taking on prestigious journalism education positions. Searches to replace Mark Goodman of the Student Press Law Center (SPLC) and Brant Houston of Investigative Reporters and Editors (IRE) are well underway.

Goodman, formerly SPLC's executive director, will serve as the Knight Chair in Scholastic Journalism at Kent State University. Houston is leaving as executive director of the University of Missouri-based IRE to serve as the Knight Chair in Investigative and Enterprise Reporting at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Both Goodman and Houston have agreed to assist in the transitions and won't officially begin their new duties until January 2008. Their successors will join highly regarded, financially stable organizations. The challenge will be building on the leadership and legacies of their predecessors.

In Goodman's 22 years at the helm of SPLC, the organization reinforced its position as the top defender of press rights for high school and college journalists. He became deeply involved in a number of super-charged cases involving censorship, prior restraint and other crackdowns attempting to muzzle student journalists.

Houston, who will serve as acting director until Dec. 31, spent 13 years molding the world's leading training organization for investigative journalists. IRE has more than 4,500 members covering all facets of media. Its recent annual conference, held June 7-10 in Phoenix , drew 950 participants.

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Being There

It’s a stark and grisly black-and-white image from the past – a line of executioners, kneeling and squatting under a hot mid-day sun - captured the moment they open fire on a row of prisoners several yards in front of them. Facing in the direction of the firing squad, but blindfolded, most of the prisoners are already crumbling to the ground or being thrown backward as bullets hit them, dust flying up from the earth. A lone prisoner on the far right side of the image adds to the photograph’s considerable power – he still stands facing above and beyond his executioner, unable to see him, awaiting death.

For 27 years this Pulitzer Prize-winning photograph of Kurdish prisoners being executed was attributed only to an ‘anonymous’ photographer. When it ran the photo in 1979, the Iranian newspaper Ettela’at chose not to reveal the photographer’s name out of concern for his safety. Fast forward to 2002, when reporter Joshua Prager of The Wall Street Journal tracked down the unknown photojournalist. He eventually found the author of the photograph – Jahangir Razmi – and convinced Razmi to show him the entire contact sheet. The Iranian journalist’s name finally appeared as the photo’s author in a Journal story from December of this past year (throughout the years numerous other photographers had been cited as the author) and at the Pulitzer luncheon at Columbia University on May 21 Razmi received his Pulitzer certificate and $10,000 prize.

Kudos go out to many in a fascinating story like this – to the folks at the local UPI desk 27 years ago who immediately appreciated the photo’s value and had it transmitted around the globe; to Prager for the persistence in pursuing a difficult story; to Sig Gissler, who administers the Pulitzer for exploring whether this is now a safe time for the prize to be given; and to Razmi. For being there when it counts.
To see Prager’s December 2006 piece in the Wall Street Journal (includes a link to the entire contact sheet of photos that Razmi took that day)
To see a New Yorker piece on Razmi’s recent trip to the U.S.
To see an International Herald Tribune piece which includes the photograph

For those in the Chicago area: The First Division Museum at Cantigny (Wheaton, IL) is hosting a summer exhibit “REQUIEM: By the Photographers Who Died in Vietnam and Indochina.” These 150 ‘moving and powerful photographs – taken by men and women on all sides who gave their lives during the conflict – begin with the French Indochina War in the 1950s and culminate with the fall of Phnom Penh and Saigon in 1975.’ The opening is June 21, 2007, at 6:30 pm. See the Cantigny website for more information at www.FirstDivisionMuseum.org.

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Stop the Presses: College Campus Press Act

Illinois college journalists are in line to receive the same free press rights as their professional counterparts if Gov. Rod Blagojevich approves a bill passed this week by the state legislature. According to the Chicago Tribune, the College Campus Press Act- passed unanimously by the state senate and 112-2 in the Illinois House - would permit college student journalists "to write articles without fear that college officials could censor or bar publication of their work."

College press freedom is a hot topic in Illinois, after a prominent prior restraint case in 2001 at Governors State University. Three student journalists sued the school after a dean stopped the paper from being printed after learning there would be several stories critical of the university, according to the Tribune. The case went to the courts and the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals held that college administrators did have the right to use prior review and restraint for student papers if the publications weren't designated as a "public forum for student expression," according to Virginia-based Student Press Law Center. The new Illinois legislation designates college publications as public forums for student expression.

Gov. Blagojevich has 60 days to decide whether to sign or veto the bill.

For more, visit: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/southsouthwest/chi-collegepressjun08,1,6884139.story

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Please Don't Shoot the Messenger

Reading about journalists who go beyond the call of duty to carry out their work is a reminder that this is a job, yes, but also a calling that can inspire passion and demand exceptional courage. Take the case of Lydia Cacho, a Mexican journalist and human rights activist who reports for the CIMAC news agency and also writes features for "Dia Siete" magazine. Cacho has written extensively about prostitution rings in Cancun and wrote a book published last year, “Los Demonios del Eden” (“Demons of Eden”), about the Lebanese-born head of a local child pornography and prostitution ring. When she testified at his trial in May of this year, her car was sabotaged and she was threatened with violence. She now travels with bodyguards .

Lydia Cacho has just been named one of the 2007 Courage in Journalism Award Winners by the International Women’s Media Foundation. IWMF’s award, created in 1990, honors ‘women journalists who have shown extraordinary strength of character and integrity while reporting the news under dangerous or difficult circumstances’ and includes high-profile events in Los Angeles and New York. Other 2007 winners are:
+ The Iraqi women reporters of McClatchy’s Baghdad bureau, who risk their lives to cover the war in Iraq;
+ Ethiopian publisher Serkalem Fasil, who gave birth to a son while confined to a vermin-infested jail cell for her work; and
+ Peta Thornycroft of Zimbabwe, who is being given a lifetime achievement award for her many years of independent reporting on human rights abuses, farm occupation and government repression.

Read more at http://www.iwmf.org/press/10092.

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Free Speech vs. Press Responsibility: The Venezuela Situation

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has been making worldwide headlines this week with his closure of Radio Caracas Television network (RCTV), the country's oldest television channel, founded in 1953. The move comes as part of a larger effort to "socialize" the country's media with government-backed channels such as TVes, which broadcasts cultural programs. Chavez had earlier accused CNN of comparing him to Osama bin Laden by juxtaposing images of the two during a broadcast. CNN acknowleged the mix-up, but denied comparing Chavez with the al-Qaida leader.

Most international coverage of the station closings is overwhelmingly negative, with several media rights groups calling it a serious blow to free speech. Chavez and his supporters counter that the privately-owned independent stations do not represent the interests of Venezuela's people, and that many of these stations were supporting overthrow attempts and some had even encouraged assassination attempts. Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) points out that in 2002, RCTV participated in a short-lived coup that temporarily removed Chavez' democratically-elected government and that once Chavez returned to power, RCTV refused to report on it, forcing the question of a media outlet's responsibility to report relevant news events, and the consequences of abdicating that responsibility.

Student protests against the closings continue, and police have responded with tear gas and rubber bullets. Several students have been injured and one police officer has suffered a broken leg.

Other reading:

Yahoo! News

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting

CNN

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You Wrote What about Your Principal?

Oregon is on track to becoming the seventh state to authorize expanded free speech protection for student journalists, provided the state Senate joins its House in passing a new bill, according to the scholastic journalism group J-IDEAS. The Oregon House approved the landmark student press bill earlier this week and it's headed to the state Senate by the end of the month.

The bill protects both high school and college students from administrative (i.e. principal, superintendent, deans etc.) censorship and is the first of its kind that offers protection to both age groups, according to J-IDEAS.

The proposed protections come at a particularly contentious time for student speech - a number of teachers and students nationwide have recently reported a crackdown on student media. In addition, in April the Washington state Senate killed a student press bill as well.

For more information, visit http://www.jideas.org/

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Sunshine Week '07 Exposes the Shadows

A nationwide survey of more than 1,000 adults, commissioned by the American Society of Newspaper Editors for Sunshine Week, found that people overwhelmingly believe that their federal leaders have become sneaky by listening to telephone conversations or opening private mail without court permission. Twenty-five percent believe the federal government is either “very open” or “somewhat open,” while 69 percent said it’s either “somewhat secretive” or “very secretive.” See the poll findings at http://www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/scrippspoll07 and a list of open government websites at http://www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/orgs.

More than 800 organizations (nonprofit groups, news organizations, press associations, public libraries, elected officials, etc) participated in this year’s Sunshine Week (see a full list at http://www.sunshineweek.org/sunshineweek/participants07). In Illinois, more than 30 groups participated, including the State Journal Register of Springfield. The SJR website features a six-part series on FOIA - “Request Denied” - including a video on the topic (at http://www.sj-r.com/extras/specialprojects/foia).

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