Speakers: First Amendment for the Twenty-First Century

A welcome message from Maxwell King, president and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation, opening of the first day of The First Amendment for the Twenty-First Century conference. The conference was held June 21-22, 2018 at the August Wilson Center and Pittsburgh CAPA in Pittsburgh.

A welcome message from Grant Oliphant, president of The Heinz Endowments, opening the second day of The First Amendment for the Twenty-First Century conference. The conference was held June 21-22, 2018 at the August Wilson Center and Pittsburgh CAPA in Pittsburgh.

Jeanne Pearlman, senior vice president for program and policy at The Pittsburgh Foundation, provides an overview of the conference and introduces the topics to be discussed on the first day of the First Amendment in the 21st Century conference. The conference was held June 21-22, 2018.

April Ryan, White House correspondent, Washington, D.C., bureau chief for American Urban Radio Networks and CNN political analyst, opens the conference and shares her perspective as a journalist on how our freedoms are under threat.

Photographer Martha Rial talks about the International Free Expression Project, a nonprofit organization dedicated to building public support for free expression.

Led by moderator Robert Rosenthal, the panel discusses Freedom of the Press and Religion within the context of an ever-changing media landscape.

Jonathan Sotsky, director, learning and impact at the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, speaks to two Pittsburgh-based college students to understand how the First Amendment impacts and affects their lives.

Artists and activists Vanessa German and Jasiri X share their perspectives on how people of color are portrayed in the media and how as artists they express truth to power.

Pittsburgh CAPA 2018 graduate Chelsea Calfo sings "A Heart Full of Love" from Les Miserables.

Jameel Jaffer, executive director, Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia University, talks about the lack of transparency by social media companies and how they decide to accept/restrict certain content, and how it may threaten First Amendment freedoms.

Former Congressman Mickey Edwards, a lecturer at Princeton University’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and vice president of the Aspen Institute, examines the "assault on truth" and how journalists struggle to reach those who have "covered their ears and eyes."

Indira Lakshmanan, Newmark chair in journalism ethics at the Poynter Institute and columnist for The Boston Globe, interviews former U.S. Congressman Mickey Edwards, about how the current political atmosphere has had an effect on journalism and news reporting.

Mila Sanina, executive director of PublicSource interviews Jenni Monet, an independent journalist who writes about Indigenous rights and injustice. They discuss the importance of First Amendment protections as journalists face unprecedented challenges from the administration and its supporters.

Kristen Cambell, executive director of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement, and Matt Leighninger, vice president of public engagement and director of The Yankelovich Center for Public Judgment at Public Agenda, look at the First Amendment as the foundation for healthy civic engagement to help people be active participants in building and strengthening communities.

Yascha Mounk, executive director of the Tony Blair Institute for Global Change, discusses how threats to fundamental freedoms guaranteed in the First Amendment can represent a threat to democracy in the United States and around the world.

Co-founder and executive director of the Freedom of the Press Foundation Trevor Timm points out how technology plays a big and continually changing role in journalism and media. Timm then joins a panel led by Andrew Conte, director, Center for Media Innovation at Point Park University, Stephanie Whited, communications director, The Tor Project and David Greene, senior staff attorney and civil liberties director, Electronic Frontier Foundation, as they explore the good and bad of emerging technologies and the effects on First Amendment freedoms.

Rob Rogers, former editorial cartoonist at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette who was fired by the publisher in June 2018, is interviewed by Heinz Endowments president Grant Oliphant regarding his career and the First Amendment implications of his firing.

President and CEO of The Pittsburgh Foundation Maxwell King provides closing remarks at The First Amendment for the Twenty-First Century conference. Ken Gormley invites attendees to a second conference in October.