In Washington, D.C., an independent journalist was jailed for bringing a tape recorder to a public meeting. The outcry from journalists across the nation shed light on this issue surrounding freedom of information and government restrictions.
Sunshine Week is a national initiative to promote the importance of government openness and freedom of information. To celebrate, a lecture series, called Forgive Us Our Press Passes, was hosted Wednesday night to emphasize the importance of freedom of information for journalists nationwide.
Phil Bremen, an assistant professor of telecommunications, invited three guest speakers to provide insight on the freedom of the press and the rights of journalists. The guests included Washington Post columnist John Kelly, former Executive Director of the Arizona Newspaper Association John Fearing and Delaware County Sheriff's Department Lt. Arlan Johnson.
"Student journalists are going into a brave but scary new world," Bremen said. "Freedom of the press is part of the First Amendment, so is Freedom of the Press and Freedom of Assembly, and these freedoms were violated just by taking a picture."
Bremen was referring to the example of Fearing, who was arrested when he first moved to Richmond, Ind., for taking pictures of a car crash on Main Street. The officer asked him several times to put away the camera and step away from the premise, but his failure to comply resulted in a ride to jail.
The importance of lecture was to emphasize the importance of the rights journalists, as well as citizens, have and to practice them regardless of who says they are wrong.
"What we were discussing tonight is that the journalists have no more rights than any other citizen," Bremen said. "But they also have no fewer rights, so we just wanted to explore that a bit tonight."
Each of the speakers highlighted a time where they had to deal with suppression by law enforcement or government officials, but one of the more interesting points of view were from Johnson.
"Most people who are police officers think they are in charge all the time, but I'd rather every journalist like me than not; kind of like, I'll scratch your back if you scratch mine, sort of thing," Johnson said.
The presentation seemed to evoke some strong emotions from the audience as they laughed in certain parts and gasped in other areas of the dissertation.
Freshman journalism major Brittany Cripe said the presentation was informative and fresh.
"I never really knew how different people would react and I thought it was interesting hearing the reactions," Cripe said.
Bremen stressed that the point of putting together the presentation was for students to take away something profound by the end of it.
"We need to appreciate newspapers, and not just newspapers, but serious news gathering in all other areas of media just because we need them," Bremen said.
Read More
Students gather to protest for Palestine at Frog Baby Fountain
By Staff Reports / YesterdayA student-led protest kicked off near Frog Baby at 4 p.m. May 1 in solidarity with Palestine amidst the country’s conflict with Israel.
The eyes and ears of the David Owsley Museum of Art
By Madelyn Bracken / 6 days agoThe David Owsley Museum of Art (DOMA) doesn’t only house art. For many Ball State University students, it houses opportunity. Graduate and social media assistant, and former DOMA intern and guard, Taylor Hamblin spent the past two years working at the museum surrounded with possibilities to further her career while at Ball State.
Center for Peace offers academic opportunities
By Meghan Braddy and Grayson Joslin / April 25, 2024Over the years, the center has offered a peace studies minor, conflict resolution training and grant funding.
