Lawyers, reporters to examine reporting under hostile president, Wednesday, Oct. 12

A distinguished panel of attorneys, and White House and Supreme Court journalists will try to separate hyperbole from reality in an Oct. 12 National Press Club panel discussion examining the potential damage to the First Amendment a future president, who is hostile to independent reporting, could have.

The event, sponsored by the National Press Club Journalism Institute's Press Freedom Committee, is scheduled to take place from 6:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the NPC's First Amendment Lounge, preceded by a reception from 6 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.. Tickets are $5 for club members and $10 for the general public and can be purchased here.

In the heat of a presidential campaign, candidates make many promises –- and threats. Some are serious, others have little chance of going anywhere. At the Press Club, a panel of lawyers and journalists plan to examine the potential impact the 2016 campaign’s rhetoric could have on the news media, including: access issues and policies of different administrations and campaigns; the historical and legal underpinnings of First Amendment protections against lawsuits brought by public officials and public figures; and the impact a changed Supreme Court could have on those protections.

The panel is expected to be moderated by Chuck Tobin, partner, Holland & Knight LLP

Panelists:

• Kenneth Jost, author of Supreme Court Yearbook, and adjunct professor at the Georgetown University Law Center


• Anita Kumar, White House correspondent for McClatchy Newspapers


• Adam Liptak, Supreme Court correspondent for the New York Times


• Katie Townsend, litigation director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

For more information, contact Rachel Oswald, Press Freedom Committee vice-chair, at [email protected]