Freedom of press has been a pillar of American democracy since the founding, but journalists are reporting an unprecedented number of attacks during recent nationwide protests. U.S. Representatives Steve Cohen and Mary Gay Scanlon; Rich Lowry, editor of National Review; and Suzanne Nossel, CEO of PEN America and author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All, join for a conversation exploring the rights of journalists when covering protests and government response to protests in turbulent times. Jeffrey Rosen, president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, moderates.
Participants
- Congressman Steve Cohen has served as the U.S. Representative from Tennessee's 9th congressional district since 2007. He has served as a commissioner on the Shelby County Commission, an office he held from 1978 to 1980, and was elected to the Tennessee Senate in 1982, where he represented District 30 for 24 years. Cohen has been named the 35th most effective Democratic lawmaker by the Center for Effective Lawmaking at the University of Virginia and Vanderbilt University. In 2019, Cohen was named Chairman of the House Judiciary Committee’s influential Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties. He was also selected to join the House Committee on Science, Space and Technology and serve as Vice-Chair of the newly formed Medicare for All Caucus.
- Rich Lowry is the editor of National Review. He became editor of National Review in 1997 when selected by its founder, William F. Buckley, Jr., to lead the magazine. He writes for Politico, often appears on such public-affairs programs as Meet the Press and is a regular panelist on the KCRW program Left, Right & Center. He is also the author of four books, including Lincoln Unbound; The Case for Nationalism: How It Made Us Powerful, United, and Free; and the New York Times bestseller, Legacy: Paying the Price for the Clinton Years. Lowry began his career as a research assistant for Charles Krauthammer.
- Suzanne Nossel is the Chief Executive Officer of PEN America. A leading voice on free expression issues in the U.S.and globally, she is a featured columnist for Foreign Policy magazine and has published op-eds in The New York Times, Washington Post, LA Times, and dozens of other outlets, as well as scholarly articles in Foreign Affairs, Dissent, Democracy, and other journals. She has served as the Chief Operating Officer of Human Rights Watch and as Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, and held senior State Department positions in the Clinton and Obama administrations. She is the author of Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All.
- Congresswoman Mary Gay Scanlon serves as the U.S. Representative from Pennsylvania’s 5th Congressional District. She was first sworn into U.S. House of Representatives on November 13, 2018. Scanlon previously served as national pro bono counsel at a major U.S. law firm, where she directed and supervised over 600 lawyers in 15 offices in providing more than 50,000 hours of pro bono legal services annually to low-income clients and non-profit organizations. She also served as an attorney at the Education Law Center, as President of her local school board, and as co-chair of the Voting Rights Task Force of the Association of Pro Bono Counsel. Scanlon currently serves as Vice Chair of the House Judiciary Committee, the House Rules Committee, and the House Select Committee on the Modernization of Congress.
- Jeffrey Rosen is the president and CEO of the National Constitution Center, a nonpartisan nonprofit organization devoted to educating the public about the U.S. Constitution. Rosen is also professor of law at The George Washington University Law School and a contributing editor of The Atlantic.
Resources from the Program
Scalon, Schiff Resoluton (H.Res.1009)
Press Freedom Under Fire in Ferguson, PEN America
Arresting Dissent: Legislative Restrictions on the Right to Protest, PEN America
Dare to Speak: Defending Free Speech for All, Suzanne Nossel
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