CONYERS, SANFORD & COHEN Host Bipartisan Forum On Press Freedom

Forum on “The State of Press Freedom in 21^st Century America”

Washington, D.C. – On Monday, July 24, 2017 at 3:00 p.m., House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI), Representatives Steve Cohen (D-TN) and Mark Sanford (R-SC), hosted a bipartisan forum on freedom of the press entitled, “The State of Press Freedom in 21^st Century America.”

The First Amendment to the United States Constitution provides, among other things, that “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the freedom . . . of the press . . . .”  A free press is a critical check on the power of government institutions and public officials, yet press freedom may be under threat from various sources. 

The forum will explore, among other topics, the following:

•         President Donald Trump’s repeated attempts to seemingly de-legitimize mainstream news outlets by calling them “fake news” and “the enemy of the American people;”

•         Threats by President Trump to change libel laws to make it easier to pursue lawsuits against the press;

•         Aggressive efforts by the Administrations of Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush to prosecute or pressure journalists;

•         The potential epidemic of misinformation being presented to the public as “news” that may threaten to undermine the credibility of legitimate journalism;

•         Restrictions on access to press briefings; and

•         Physical threats to journalists.

                    Members of Congress

•         Subcommittee on the Constitution and Civil Justice Ranking Member Steve Cohen (D-TN)

•         Representative Mark Sanford (R-SC)

•         House Judiciary Committee Ranking Member John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

•         Additional Members of Congress

Panelists

•         Jeff Ballou, President, National Press Club

•         Jennifer Rubin, Writer of the “Right Turn” Blog, Washington Post

•         Kyle Pope, Editor-in-Chief, Columbia Journalism Review

•         Alicia Shepard, Media ethics expert and contributing writer for USA Today

•         Floyd Abrams, Senior Counsel, Cahill, Gordon & Reindel LLP

•         Rick Blum, Executive Director, News Media for Open Government

•         Marvin Kalb, Senior Adviser, Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting, Harvard Professor Emeritus, and Senior Fellow at Brookings Institution

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