RTDNA Wants You to Know Your Reporting Rights
| RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, October 18, 2017 |
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FCC Chairman Ajit Pai said Tuesday the agency does not have authority to revoke broadcast licenses over news story content, despite suggestions from President Donald Trump. He rejected Trump's tweet that the FCC could challenge the license of NBC after stories Trump declared were not true, reports Reuters. "Under the law, the FCC does not have the authority to revoke a license of a broadcast station based on the content," said Pai. "The FCC under my leadership will stand for the First Amendment."
To address such concerns, RTDNA, the National Press Club Journalism Institute, the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication, and Reel Media Group are co-sponsoring an event on Friday, October 20 from 1:30pm to 3pm ET, at which student and professional journalists will have the opportunity to learn from media law experts and experienced reporters who have encountered legal or physical threats while reporting. It's hosted at the National Press Club in Washington, DC, and streamed on Facebook Live at www.facebook.com/RTDNA.RTDNF.
RTDNA's Voice of the First Amendment Task Force, launched this year, has been tracking increasing vitriol against reporters working in public, including verbal and physical harassment and even arrest. The panel will include:
Vikram Bhagat, in-house counsel at American Public Media Group and Minnesota Public Radio Ellen Crooke, VP of News for TEGNA and an RTDNA Director-at-Large Scott MacFarlane, Veteran investigative reporter for NBC Washington Paul Safirer of the prestigious Washington law firm Ballard Spahr
It will be moderated by Reel Media Group co-founders Stephanie Tsoflias Siegel and Bram Weinstein. "Journalists have a Constitutionally-guaranteed duty to seek and report the truth, and actions that prevent reporters from doing so are often unjustified," said RTDNA Executive Director Dan Shelley.
