NEFAC Report | November 2021

New England First Amendment Coalition

November 2021

GIVING ~~TUESDAY~~ WEEK

Support NEFAC's First Amendment Education, Advocacy and Defense

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NEFAI 2021

NEFAC Concludes Annual New England First Amendment Institute for Local Journalists

The week-long investigative journalism program concluded on Nov. 6 with remarks from Astead Herndon, reporter for The New York Times and political analyst for CNN.

Tracy Jan of the Washington Post opened the program which featured more than 40 expert instructors and speakers.

The Institute — provided at no cost to 25 local journalists each year — began in 2016. Since then, NEFAC has trained nearly 300 reporters, editors and producers in newsrooms throughout the region.

Learn More About NEFAI 2021

FREEDOM OF PRESS

NEFAC Joins Effort to End Prior Restraint Against The New York Times

The New England First Amendment Coalition and more than 50 media organizations recently denounced a prior restraint imposed on The New York Times, saying that the legal order would have “grave ramifications” for journalists’ ability to report the news.

“The restrictions on publication and newsgathering contemplated by the Order — as well as the interim restrictions currently imposed by it — violate the First Amendment’s prohibition on prior restraints,” explained the groups in a Nov. 22 amicus brief drafted by the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. [...]

Additional Coverage

EDUCATION

How to Verify Information Online

In an age of information overload, finding credible sources is increasingly difficult. We’ve seen how misinformation can impact media consumers, but it can also make a journalist’s job more difficult.

By viewing this lesson, you will learn:

• Tech tips to help verify information, including reverse image searching.

• How to identify bots and other fake social media accounts.

• Where to find open-source tools to help with digital media investigations.

All Previous Classes

PUBLIC RECORDS 101

3 Requests 3 Stories: Learn About Requests You Can Make and the Stories to Be Written

All lessons are now available to view. They feature local journalists from each New England state explaining how to make three specific requests using their respective state public records law and what stories can be reported with the records received.

Vermont | Liam Elder-Connors | VPR

New Hampshire | Todd Bookman | NHPR

Massachusetts | Ally Jarmanning | WBUR

Maine | Samantha Hogan | The Maine Monitor

Connecticut | Jordan Fenster | Hearst Connecticut Media Group

Rhode Island | Amanda Milkovits | The Boston Globe

Federal FOIA | Erin Siegal McIntyre | University of North Carolina

Explore NEFAC's FOI Guide for More Lessons and Resources

JOURNALISM

NEFAC, Media Groups Argue Against Government Surveillance of Journalists

In a Nov. 11 amicus brief, NEFAC and other media organizations explained that targeted, persistent camera surveillance infringes on First Amendment freedoms, including the right to gather news.

“To stake out an ‘observation nest’ near a constitutionally sensitive location — a newspaper office, a home, a church — is an old trick of security agencies hoping to out reporters’ sources and cut the flow of newsworthy information to the public,” wrote NEFAC and fellow amici. [...]

An 'Unfortunate History' of Monitoring Reporters

Grayson Clary at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press explains how targeted, persistent government surveillance can jeopardize First Amendment rights. Clary and his colleagues filed an amicus brief on behalf of NEFAC and other media organizations in a case involving questions of constitutional law that have appellate courts across the country divided.

Discussion Notes and Links

EDUCATION

NEFAC Campus Tour Continues; Expert Speakers Available for Spring Semester

The New England First Amendment Coalition is providing educators throughout the region a variety of resources to incorporate into their classroom lessons this academic year, including access to expert speakers.

NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman spoke this month to students at Emerson College in Boston. NEFAC has presented this semester to schools including the University of Connecticut, the University of Massachusetts, Framingham State University and Boston University.

Learn more about how NEFAC can help your classroom or campus event.

MORE NEFAC COMMENTARY

Harvard’s Right to Photos of Enslaved People Being Weighed By State’s Highest Court

NEFAC Executive Director Justin Silverman spoke to WBUR in Boston about the consequences a broad ruling by the court could have for press freedoms. "Imagine an editor sorting through photos of battlefields or mass gatherings. How would that editor even begin to sort out all the claims of ownership by those depicted in the images?" The result, Silverman said, would be a chilling effect in news and museums and publishing where vital photojournalism — think leaked images from Abu Ghraib or photographs of crimes or massacres — aren’t shared because they might prompt costly lawsuits from the people they depict. [...]

Lawyer Pleads with SJC to End Harvard’s Control Over Photo

In court papers, the Massachusetts Newspaper Publishers Association and the New England First Amendment Coalition both urged the SJC to reject Lanier’s legal arguments. “It is a well-settled tenet of common law that the subject of a photograph has no property interest in the photograph,’’ the news organizations said in a joint brief. “It is in reliance on this basic tenet that journalists employ still and video photography as essential tools in their coverage of and reporting on the news, as they have done so for more than 150 years.” [...]

Judge Allows Union Leader, NEFAC to Intervene in Case and Seek Internal Records From Hillsborough County Attorney

The Union Leader and the New England First Amendment Coalition have said such records should be public because they will shed light on the operation of the office. . . . “Nowhere within the field of governmental accountability is the light of public scrutiny more critical than when it shines within our courts of law,” wrote Gregory V. Sullivan, who represents the Union Leader and the First Amendment organization in the case. [...]

MORE FOI & FIRST AMENDMENT NEWS

Regional / National

Religious Freedom, Vaccines

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Connecticut

Maine

Massachusetts

Secret Recording of Gov't Officials

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New Hampshire

School Speech

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Claremont Cop-Turned-City-Councilor Seeks to Keep His Past Police Write-Ups Private | Valley News

Rhode Island

Vermont

Judicial Records

Media Access

Freedom of the Press

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2021 Supporters

NEFAC appreciates the support of all its donors and volunteers. In particular, we would like to thank the following Leadership Circle donors ($10,000+) and Major Supporters ($2,500-$9,999) for their contributions:

LEADERSHIP CIRCLE

Hearst Conn. Media Group

The Boston Globe

Paul and Ann Sagan

The Robertson Foundation

MAJOR SUPPORTERS

Boston University

WBUR-Boston

Academy of New England Journalists

SPJ Foundation

Genie Gannett