FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT Justin Silverman | 774.244.2365 | justin@nefac.org
The New England First Amendment Coalition will present its ongoing community conversation, “The First Amendment and the Free Press,” from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on May 23 at the Southworth Public Library, 732 Dartmouth Street, Dartmouth, Mass.
This event, sponsored by Friends of The Dartmouth Libraries, is free and open to the public.
Speakers include:
KAREN BORDELEAU | Bordeleau is a retired executive editor of The Providence Journal and an award-winning journalist. She is on the journalism faculty at Emerson College in Boston and the Cronkite School at Arizona State University. She has served as a juror for the Pulitzer Prizes in 2015 and 2016.
EDWARD FITZPATRICK (moderator) | As the Providence Journal’s political columnist, Fitzpatrick championed First Amendment freedoms, pressing for access to public records. He now covers Rhode Island for The Boston Globe.
BARBARA T. ROESSNER | Roessner is the former executive editor of Hearst Connecticut Media Group, an amalgam of daily and weekly newspapers, websites and other print and digital products based in Southern Connecticut. A Pulitzer Prize-winning editor, she has twice served as a Pulitzer juror.
JUSTIN SILVERMAN | Silverman is executive director of NEFAC and a Massachusetts-based attorney. A former journalist and publisher, he worked for several news organizations before attending law school in Boston and joining the coalition.
NEFAC offers discussions on journalism and the First Amendment as part of its Featured Speaker Program, launched in January 2018 to help increase First Amendment education in high schools, college classrooms and community centers. NEFAC recently presented to students at the University of New Hampshire; high school students in Bridgeport, Conn., and at the annual New England Scholastic Press Association conference at Boston University, among other New England locations and audiences.
NEFAC was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society. Our members include lawyers, journalists, historians, academics and private citizens.
Our coalition is funded through contributions made by those who value the First Amendment and who strive to keep government accountable. Please make a donation here.
Major Supporters of NEFAC include the Hearst Connecticut Media Group, the Barr Foundation, The Providence Journal Charitable Legacy Fund, The Boston Globe, WBUR and Boston University.