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In a year in which four billion people are scheduled to vote in 25 elections, the world already looks very different.
This three-part series on Covering Elections from the Journalism Protection Initiative at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism will focus on press freedom and the safety challenges of reporting on the U.S. election. The series is co-sponsored by the Center for Community Media.
“Covering Elections” is part of a range of public programming from the Newmark J-School which will examine the media’s role from every angle.
On the Skirmish Line
Co-sponsored by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University and Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP)
Protests have become part of the political and electoral landscape in the United States, and will likely feature in the fall, from college campuses to campaign rallies. But covering protests safely represents an enormous challenge for the press. During the 2020 nationwide protests that followed the murder of George Floyd, hundreds of journalists were arrested and assaulted by law enforcement. Journalists, like protesters, have a legal right to be present in public spaces and document police activities, but the ability of journalists to remain on the scene — when a dispersal order is given or a curfew imposed — is more circumscribed.
This panel discussion will open with a presentation from Gabe Rottman, director of RCFP’s Press Freedom and Technology Project, on a settlement agreement with the NYPD and a soon-to-be-released report from the Justice Department that could strengthen protections for the press. The conversation — moderated by Joel Simon, founding director of the Journalism Protection Initiative — will also cover the evolving climate for protest coverage from a legal and practical perspective.
Panelists
Katy Glenn Bass: As the program director of the Knight First Amendment Institute, Glenn Bass oversaw the production of Simon’s 2023 report on policing, Covering Democracy, and participated in an accompanying documentary, Flashpoint. She also authored a report on press freedom and policing in her previous role at PEN America.
Molly Biklen: Associate Legal Director of NYCLU was the lead counsel on the historic settlement with the NYPD that bans “kettling” and increases legal protections for journalists and protesters alike.
Katie Nelson: Nelson is a freelance photojournalist who was attacked by police while covering protests in Minneapolis following the murder of George Floyd, and received a legal settlement. She has covered protests around the world, most recently in Kenya.
Wesley Lowery: A Pulitzer-prize winning journalist, Lowery was arrested in 2014 while reporting on unrest in Ferguson, Missouri and is a leading authority on the issue of press freedom and policing. He is an associate professor of investigative journalism at American University.