New England First Amendment Coalition

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September 2024

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We Want to Hear From You!

As a member of the NEFAC Community, you are in the company of journalists, academics and other fans of the First Amendment and open government. We look forward to seeing you at our events and hearing from you about our programs.

Meet Our 2024 Negri Institute Fellows

New England Reporters to Attend NEFAC's Annual Journalism Training Program

Named after the late trail-blazing Boston Globe journalist, the Gloria L. Negri First Amendment Institute (formerly the New England First Amendment Institute) is an annual, multi-day, intensive training program on freedom of information law and investigative reporting techniques.

The Institute is offered each year exclusively to 25 working New England journalists and a select group of undergraduate students chosen by their school's faculty. More than 300 journalists from about 100 newsrooms have attended the Institute since it began in 2011.

The 14th annual Institute — provided at no cost to those who attend — consists of local workshops, online classes and in-person instruction at Northeastern University in Boston from Oct. 20-22.

▶ Learn More About the Negri First Amendment Institute

30 Minute Skills

Audio Reporting 101

Instructor: Jeff Cohen, Managing Producer at WBUR Boston

Newsrooms are investing in audio to reach new audiences and journalists are looking for ways to sharpen their audio reporting skills. But for many reporters, the question remains: where to start? By viewing this lesson, you’ll learn:

• Strategies for identifying effective sources of audio and how to listen in new ways for sound.
• How to begin recording sound for your stories.
• How to incorporate audio recordings into your reporting.

Election Coverage 101

Instructor: Emma Platoff, Reporter at The Boston Globe

Local journalists need to look beyond conventional reporting to inform audiences about the consequence of their votes. By viewing this lesson, you’ll learn:

• How to approach voters and find relevant, timely sources for your stories.
• How to identify new election-related stories and report on under-served communities.
• How to localize stories about national elections and keep election coverage relevant to your audience.

Register Now For Upcoming Classes

▶ Copyright Law 101 | Oct. 17

▶ Copyright Law 102 | Nov. 14

▶ View All Previous Lessons

First Amendment and the Free Press

Watch NEFAC President Gregory V. Sullivan explain how the coalition reaches communities across the world.

Request a Journalist or First Amendment Scholar for Classes and Community Events

The New England First Amendment Coalition’s “First Amendment and the Free Press” program highlights our constitutional freedoms and the democratic role journalism plays in our country.

We discuss how the First Amendment works and how local newsrooms can best meet their obligations to the communities they cover. In addition to providing general First Amendment education, this program brings reporters, academics and legal scholars onto campuses and into the region’s classrooms and community centers to pull back the newsroom curtain and explain how journalism works. We also provide classroom lessons on a range of First Amendment and journalism topics.

Email comm@nefac.org to schedule a guest speaker for your next class or event.

More Events and Presentations

The NEFAC Community can be seen throughout the region with expert speakers regularly presenting in classrooms, community centers and on college campuses. Here's where else you can find us:

▶ Roger Williams University | Sept. 24

▶ Nackey S. Loeb School of Communications | Sept. 25, Oct. 2 and Oct. 9

▶ University of Massachusetts Amherst | Nov. 19