First Amendment Network

NFPW is continually working on the behalf of all Americans to protect First Amendment rights. These are just a few of our activities:

• FAN Network

  NFPW continues to operate its First Amendment Network (FAN), an innovative grassroots e-mail alert system that notifies FAN members when issues need action.

  Members then can respond to the appropriate congressional office or federal agency seeking comments.

  We, as an organization, can pass resolutions, but oftentimes it is individual responses that capture decision-makers' attention. We provide our members with information sheets so they know what is at stake.

• Congressional Research Service reports

  NFPW continues to fight for making Congressional Research Service reports more broadly available by posting them online. It is important that the public have access to information on how their government works and to studies that show how well that government is serving the public.

• Shield Law

  Another top priority is adoption of a federal Shield Law.

  What is the Shield Law?—Douglas Lee, attorney for Ehrmann Gehlback Badger & Lee, writing for the First Amendment Center, explained:

  In 1972, the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in Branzburg v. Hayes that "news gathering is not without First Amendment protections." The justices, however, could not agree about the form or breadth of those protections. As a result, no nationally recognized newsgatherer's privilege exists. Instead, the protections currently in place for newsgatherers are set forth in a patchwork of inconsistent court decisions and state statutes.

  Newsgatherers—a term that includes reporters, authors and television producers—often are subpoenaed to provide information in criminal and civil court proceedings. In some cases, the information sought is the identity of a confidential source. In others, the subpoenaing party seeks a reporter's notes, video outtakes or other unpublished information. And in others, the newsgatherer is subpoenaed to testify about a crime or other event he or she witnessed.

  Newsgatherers seek protection from these subpoenas for a variety of reasons. If newsgatherers cannot guarantee the confidentiality promised to some sources, they say, those sources will refuse to provide information that often is critical to important investigative reporting. Newsgatherers also claim that requests for nonconfidential, unpublished information interfere in news gathering by making them investigative arms of the government and by forcing them to spend time and money in court proceedings. Newsgatherers also cite the potential abuse they would suffer if litigants unhappy with a story or a book could routinely subpoena them to appear in court.

  For more information on the Shield Law, contact firstamendmentcenter.org

  Watch a video discussion (in right column) between First Amendment Counsel Tonda Rush and Marsha Shuler, NFPW immediate past president, at the NFPW conference in September, 2009, in San Antonio, Texas.

• College Press Freedom

  NFPW also joined in the amicus brief in Hosty v. Carter. The case involved Governors State University in Illinois. The university was sued by student journalists after a dean told the newspaper's printer to hold future issues until school officials had given approval to the student newspaper's contents. The newspaper had published news stories and editorials critical of the administration.

  A three-judge panel handed down a decision offering strong support for college press freedom. The decision was vacated and the full court overturned it. The case was up for petition for certorari to the U.S. Supreme Court. NFPW donated funds to help with the suit to uphold press freedom and denounce prior censorship.

• Freedom of Information

  FAN has also kept our members up to date on problems involving access to government records through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). A recent alert advised of changes the Bush administration made aimed at speeding up records requests made by the public, media and others. The names of FOIA contacts in charge of policing the system have been posted.

• Sunshine Week

  We also participated in Sunshine Week along with other strong First Amendment groups. Sunshine Week is an annual event designed to disseminate information and heighten awareness of First Amendment issues.

For more information contact Marsha Shuler, Director, First Amendment Network, at mshuler@theadvocate.com.