Education and journalism leaders will discuss findings from the most recent “Future of the First Amendment” survey during a streamed session on Sunday, Sept. 21 at 2 p.m. Panelists will include Carol Lange, director for the Journalism Education Association; Alan Weintraut, a Dow Jones Newspaper Fund Journalism Teacher of the Year; and Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center. Gene Policinski, chief operating officer of the Newseum Institute, will moderate the session.
The 2014 study, funded by the journalism- and media-focused John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, suggested a shift in student beliefs about the First Amendment. According to the findings, 24 percent of high school students think the amendment goes too far in guaranteeing the rights of religion, speech, press assembly, and petition; in 2004, 35 percent of surveyed students held that belief.
Among other points, the foundation also reported an increase in digital news consumption among students and found that a majority oppose businesses tracking their online searches. The national survey of 10,463 high school students and 588 teachers was the fifth in a series that has been conducted by the foundation over the past 10 years.
The panel will be streamed at newseum.org/streaming. To access the survey results, go to knightfoundation.org/firstamendment.