Kansas Professional Communicators

First Amendment rights | Guarding the Amendment
Get involved | FAN Alerts | FAN Presentation

Protecting and championing First Amendment rights are top priorities with KPC and our parent organization, National Federation of Press Women. Learn about the broad range of NFPW action to guard our First Amendment rights.

What are those First Amendment rights?

Glad you asked! Just to refresh your memory, they are:

Freedom of the press
Freedom of speech
Freedom of religion
Freedom to assemble
Freedom to petition the government

Guarding the Amendment

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

First Amendment 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.

Sign up now to be a part of the FAN.
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
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.
Letter to Governor Mike Huckabee
NFPW joined other national journalism organizations in signing a letter to Governor Mike Huckabee of Arkansas to object to his using an information-access sanction in retaliation for coverage he does not like. In this case, the sanction is aimed not merely at an individual reporter but at an entire newspaper. Read more. (.doc, pdf, Appleworks)

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

Get involved…and sign up!

We encourage all NFPW members to join FAN – no cost – and receive our FAN alerts. Then you make the decision if you choose to take action. The more voices we have championing First Amendment issues the stronger the barrier against those forces seeking to weaken these precious freedoms.

NFPW members and nonmembers who wish to join the network and receive alerts may contact Marsha Shuler, FAN Director, at mshuler@the advocate.com. Nonmembers are charged for the service.

Current FAN Alerts

Require the government to disclose its role in advocacy ads and support restrictions on pseudo-classified documents (.doc, pdf)

NFPW FAN Network Issues presentation

View our PowerPoint presentation on critical First Amendment issues being addressed by NFPW.