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“High School and College Students – Real Journalists, Real Rights”
October 30, 2019 @ 6:30 pm - 9:00 pm
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High School and College Students:
Real Journalists, Real Rights
Longtime Advocate of Student Journalism
Frank LoMonte, Executive Director
Brechner Center for Freedom of Information
University of Florida
to speak at
Delaware Press Association Special Session
FREE and Open to the Public
Join us for this important presentation and panel discussion.
Delaware Law School at Widener University
Room #119
4601 Concord Pike
Room #119
4601 Concord Pike
Wilmington, Delaware
Wednesday, October 30, 2019
6:30 p.m. Social Gathering and Light Refreshments
7:05 p..m. Address by Frank LoMonte
Panel discussion with Q & A to follow:
Frank LoMonte • Rod Smolla • Charlisa Edelin
Frank LoMonte, J.D. When he was executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C., LoMonte launched major initiatives, including “New Voices,” which has resulted in enactment of fortified legal protections for student journalists in 13 states, and the “Active Voice” fellowship program for college undergraduates to design “press freedom” service projects. LoMonte has been an investigative journalist and political columnist. Now, he teaches media and First Amendment law at the University of Florida. His work on behalf of open government and journalists’ rights, has been recognized with numerous awards, and the College Media Association offers an annual award in his name to honor special distinction in ethical journalism
Rod Smolla, J.D. A nationally-known scholar on matters relating to constitutional law, civil rights, freedom of speech, and mass media, Smolla is Dean and Professor of Law at the Delaware Law School of Widener University. A prolific author, his body of work includes many trade and university press books and multi-volume legal treatises. He is editor of the annual First Amendment Law Handbook. He also is an active litigator and has presented oral argument in state and federal courts across the country, including the Supreme Court of the United States.
Charlisa Edelin, J.D. Associate Professor and Co-Director, Law Studies Program, Department of Mass Communications, Visual and Performing Arts, at Delaware State University. Edelin previously taught criminal justice and traditional law at Wesley College. She helped transform the legal studies program into a progressive law and justice studies department, focused on “educating students for law school, law enforcement and as a paralegal,” and also developed a Criminal Justice master’s degree program. As a member of the Appoquinimink School District Board of Education, she has focused on diversifying the district’s staff to reflect the changing demographic of the community and eradicating the achievement gap for minority children and boys within the district.
This event is FREE, but please register.
“High School and College Students: Real Journalists, Real Rights . . . and Why They Matter”
Frank LoMonte saw the excellence and the positive results of the reportorial work done by high school and college students when, for more than a decade, he was executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington, D.C. He also saw the injustice when some of the hard-working students were denied the right to publish what they discovered, uncovered, and wrote about. He and his colleagues stood ready to fight for them.
Student journalists increasingly are stepping up to the plate to provide some of the state and local news coverage that some of the pared-down professional news organizations no longer can. But they don’t always have all the legal protections that professionals have come to rely on. LoMonte will take a look at:
- what legal protections and remedies are available to student journalists.
- why they matter so greatly.
- how state legislation can help keep journalism students and educators safe.
Directions: Get directions to Delaware Law School, 4601 Concord Pike, Wilmington.
Parking: See campus map. Whether you take the main entrance or the second entrance, park behind the Main Law Building (#6) in the well-lighted lot marked P6 (top of map). Enter the back of the building directly from the parking lot. Make the first right turn to get to Room #119.