Author: Editor

New York, N.Y. – Anthony Lewis is a friend of the First Amendment. But the former New York Times Supreme Court reporter said last week that the court had gone too far in recognizing the free speech of hateful funeral protesters and corporations that spend big money on politics.

Lewis said the current Supreme Court is “reluctant to draw any lines” on the First Amendment. The court’s approach seems to be so simplistic as to say “it’s speech so it’s free.”

Lewis, who wrote books popularizing First Amendment history, made the comment Wednesday evening at a Media Law Resource Center dinner where he was receiving the Brennan Defense of Freedom Award, named after the late Justice William J. Brennan Jr. award.

Following the rulings in the Tribune Company’s bankruptcy case can be mind-boggling. The latest ruling, one that could eventually help Sam Zell, was reported on today in the Chicago Tribune. Take a look at this story.

This story is another reason why it’s important for media and citizens to have the right to videotape and record police. This could have been illegal in the state of Illinois although a number of recent rulings are cutting into Illinois’ strict eavesdropping laws. Read Bill Freivogel’s piece on Illinois eavesdropping laws here.

The University of Kentucky’s media relations department keeps making the news. This time the department banned a Lexington Herald-Leader reporter for changing the wording of a question in a question/answer session with an athlete. The Herald-Leader admitted to its mistake and corrected it but that wasn’t enough to keep the reporter from being banned. Earlier this fall, the media relations group banned a sports reporter from the student newspaper for interviewing an athlete without the media relations’ permission. This drew the wrath of numerous journalism groups. Sports information members should take the same approach referees take for a basketball or football game, or umpires for a baseball game — life is much better when you aren’t noticed. Someone needs to point this fact out to the Kentucky media relations group. Read the Kentucky Kernel’s story here.

Students at Johnson County Community College in Kansas sued the school for making the cost of publics documents too high. Read the story here. http://www.kansascity.com/2011/10/05/3189134/jccc-sued-by-student-journalist.html