230 years after its ratification, the First Amendment is having a nervous breakdown. Billions of bits of information and misinformation flood the public sphere every day leading people to throw up their hands because they can’t figure out what or whom to believe. Bedrock principles of Enlightenment philosophers and great First Amendment champions, Justices Oliver…
Late last month, my son and I were photographed outside of Columbia College Chicago for a story about my employer’s new policy limiting children on campus. The Chicago Tribune photographer captured him in a wrap on my back, his blue Vans untied and a floral mask covering his face. It was my baby’s first newspaper…
I was still a relatively young reporter in The Washington Post newsroom when the US launched its longest war in history following the 9/11 terrorist attacks. I came of age as a journalist in the 20 years that followed, becoming part of a generation of reporters who ended up on a battlefield, first in Afghanistan…
Commentary Kay Drey is an activist, environmentalist, a whistleblower and an Earth Mother. Who could argue that there is anyone more passionate than Kay Drey about protecting humanity from the dangers of the atomic age? Humanity means mothers, fathers, children – it’s not just a word. She is the premier whistleblower because she has educated…
Reporter Kallie Cox has sat through more school board meetings, city council meetings and community forums for the Southern Illinoisan and Daily Egyptian newspapers than she can count. But the last time she attended a meeting in person was a year ago. At the forum, there was a whiteboard, and after the meeting was over,…