October 2003

Editor learns valuable lessons at First Amendment Institute

By Raymond Linex II
2003 FAI scholarship winner

The local police department gives you information on a police report, and a young intern includes it in the blotter, and it's published. And it's against the law to do so. Are you guilty of libel?

No.

That was an actual case from Florida I studied during the First Amendment Institute (FAI), a series of four classes covering each area of the First Amendment: speech, press, religion and the rights of petition and assembly. A Florida police department gave out the name of a rape victim, and it was published. Her family sued, and the newspaper was almost immediately dismissed from the suit. The police department did not fare as well.

You hear the First Amendment used as a protective shield almost daily. But do you really know what it stands for, what and whom it protects, its ins and outs. I didn't before the FAI. I know more now, however, thanks to a scholarship through the Texas Press Association, that had me on the road to San Antonio, Dallas, Houston and, finally, Austin.

2004 Scholarship Available

Nov. 1 is the deadline for the TPA First Amendment Institute Scholarship for the class of 2004. Any staff member at a TPA member newspaper is eligible. The scholarship covers the $1,500 tuition and meals for the four-session program (recipient pays own travel and hotel expenses.)

2004 FAI sessions:

· Freedom of Speech - March, 5-6, Friday & Saturday - Dallas

· Freedom of Press - May 14-15, Friday & Saturday - San Antonio

· Freedom of Religion - July 23-24, Friday & Saturday - Houston

· Assembly & Petition - September 29-30, Wednesday & Thursday - Austin

The Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas (FOIFT) presents the FAI, bringing in expert lectures/teachers from around the country for each session. With each one, my 12-member class -- the class of 2003 -- spent a day and a half getting to know one another, our instructors and, perhaps most importantly, the First Amendment.

The camaraderie is priceless. My class included members from several different fields of work, diverse in terms of gender and race, but cohesive like none I've ever been associated with.

That sense of togetherness was further fostered by FOIFT's executive director Katherine Garner and Stacey Bragalone, former FAI education director, who made our time with the FAI fun and our learning environments impeccable.

The education was invaluable. As a journalist, supreme knowledge of the First Amendment should be second nature. With a background in sports, I can say my knowledge lacked.

Now, however, answers regarding the cans and cannots according to the First Amendment come much easier.

When a reader wants to continually post negative remarks on my newspaper Web site's guestbook, then challenge me on his First Amendment right to free speech after I delete them, I know where the newspaper stands. We cannot violate his free speech, only a government entity can. He now knows that, too, thanks to a little passing on of knowledge.

When my publisher and I discuss a controversial story in which libel is a possible issue, I have a better understanding of our role, and our limits.

There are stands to be taken I could not take in the past.

The FAI, indeed, was a very needed step in my career as an editor. TPA and the FOIFT played the two key roles in the taking of that step.

Already, I have two fellow employees -- one that works at the desk behind me, another at a sister newspaper -- extremely interested in the FAI. I've done nothing but encourage them. It was an incredible journey for me, one I can only hope they get to make.

It is an opportunity worth seeking.