The James Madison Freedom of Information Award is a San Francisco Bay Area honor given to individuals and organizations who have made significant contributions to the advancement of freedom of expression, particularly freedom of information (as in freedom of information legislation and open government).
The award is intended to reflect the spirit of former U.S. statesman and president James Madison, traditionally regarded as the "Father of the United States Constitution" and primary author behind the George Mason-inspired United States Bill of Rights, and in particular the First Amendment.
The award goes to media and community organizations, journalists, students, and citizens from the nine-county Bay Area who have defended public access to government meetings, public records, and court proceedings, or who have furthered other more general issues of freedom of expression and information.
The First Amendment to the United States Constitution prevents the government from making laws that regulate an establishment of religion, or that prohibit the free exercise of religion, or abridge the freedom of speech, the freedom of the press, the freedom of assembly, or the right to petition the government for redress of grievances. It was adopted on December 15, 1791, as one of the ten amendments that constitute the Bill of Rights.
The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Award is an award created in honor of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner. The Hugh M. Hefner First Amendment Awards were established in 1979 to honor individuals who have made significant contributions in the vital effort to protect and enhance First Amendment rights for Americans. Since the inception of the awards, more than 100 individuals including high school students, lawyers, librarians, journalists and educators have been honored.
Metro is a free weekly newspaper published by the San Jose, California, based Metro Newspapers. Also known as Metro Silicon Valley, as well as Metroactive online, the paper serves the greater Silicon Valley area. In addition to print form, Metro can be downloaded in PDF format for free from the publisher's website. Metro also keeps tabs on local politics and the "chattering" class of San Jose through its weekly column, The Fly.
The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University, and its charter was designed by William Meharry Glenn.
Bay City News is a wire service based in the San Francisco Bay Area that focuses on general interest news. It employs about 25 reporters and editors and is overseen by veteran journalist Katherine Ann Rowlands.
Freedom of the press in the United States is legally protected by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution.
The Radio Television Digital News Association, formerly the Radio-Television News Directors Association (RTNDA), is a United States-based membership organization of radio, television, and online news directors, producers, executives, reporters, students and educators. Among its functions are the maintenance of journalistic ethics and the preservation of the free speech rights of broadcast journalists.
John Schwada is an American political-government and investigative reporter. After he won the Los Angeles Press Club's Lifetime Achievement Award in 2001, the Los Angeles City Council declared August 12, 2011 as John Schwada Day in the City of Los Angeles, although in July 2011, Schwada's contract with KTTV expired and was not renewed.
Marjorie Heins (b.1946) is a First Amendment lawyer, writer and founder of the Free Expression Policy Project.
Adi Gevins is a San Francisco Bay Area-based radio documentarian, producer, educator, archivist, and creative consultant who has been referred to as the "fairy godmother of community radio".
The First Amendment Coalition (FAC) is a nonprofit public interest organization committed to freedom of speech, more open and accountable government, and public participation in civic affairs. Founded in 1988, FAC's activities include "test case" litigation, free legal consultations on First Amendment issues, educational programs, legislative oversight of bills in California affecting access to government and free speech, and public advocacy. In 2016, lawyer and journalist David Snyder became the organization's executive director.
Roland De Wolk is an American author and print and television journalist from the San Francisco Bay Area. His career has spanned four decades. He has won multiple awards for his journalism, including a lifetime achievement award. He has been described as "a star journalist" and "an ace reporter."
The North Bay Bohemian is a weekly newspaper published in the North Bay subregion of the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States. The newspaper is distributed in Sonoma and Napa counties.
Free Speech, "The People's Darling Privilege": Struggles for Freedom of Expression in American History is a non-fiction book about the history of freedom of speech in the United States written by Michael Kent Curtis and published in 2000 by Duke University Press. The book discusses the evolution of free speech in the U.S. within the context of the actions of individuals and how they affected change. The author writes that protests and actions by citizens helped to evolve the notions surrounding free speech in the U.S. before definitive statements on the matter from U.S. courts. Curtis writes that free speech rights were first developed in "the forum of public opinion", and that, "The history of free speech shows the need for broadly protective free speech rules applied generally and equally".
Freedom for the Thought That We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment is a 2007 non-fiction book by journalist Anthony Lewis about freedom of speech, freedom of the press, freedom of thought, and the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. The book starts by quoting the First Amendment, which prohibits the U.S. Congress from creating legislation which limits free speech or freedom of the press. Lewis traces the evolution of civil liberties in the U.S. through key historical events. He provides an overview of important free speech case law, including U.S. Supreme Court opinions in Schenck v. United States (1919), Whitney v. California (1927), United States v. Schwimmer (1929), New York Times Co. v. Sullivan (1964), and New York Times Co. v. United States (1971).
Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) is a non-profit organization founded in 2012 to fund and support free speech and freedom of the press. The organization originally managed crowd-funding campaigns for independent journalistic organizations, but now pursues technical projects to support journalists' digital security and conducts legal advocacy for journalists.
Marcy Burstiner is a professor of journalism at Humboldt State University (HSU) where she is the faculty adviser to The Lumberjack student newspaper. She authored the textbook Investigative Reporting: From Premise to Publication which was originally published by Holcomb Hathaway in 2009. Taylor and Francispublished the second edition in 2018. From 2006 until 2017 she wrote a monthly column called "The Media Maven" on local media and First Amendment issues for the North Coast Journal, an alternative newsweekly based in Eureka, California. She also helped to found the literary magazine Six Hens.
Berkeleyside is a digital newspaper founded in 2009. It covers life and politics in contemporary Berkeley, California, reporting on politics, schools, crime and business, as well as the food scene in the East Bay.
Frances L. Dinkelspiel is an American journalist, author and founder of the local news website Berkeleyside. She is the author of Towers of Gold: How One Jewish Immigrant Named Isaias Hellman Created California and Tangled Vines: Greed, Murder, Obsession, and an Arsonist in the Vineyards of California.
Pete Carey is an American Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist. Carey worked at the Mercury News California from 1967 to 2016 as a projects reporter and investigative correspondent, covering the defense industry, the rise of Silicon Valley, the financial affairs of Ferdinand Marcos and other topics.
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