Get the Educator Toolkit to access resources for planning and communicating your participation in Civic Learning Week. The toolkit includes planning resources, sample social media posts, graphic assets, and more.
A 2024 Pew Research study revealed significant concerns among Americans about press freedoms and public access to information. BECOMING KATHARINE GRAHAM (2025) and “The Right to Know and The Right to Print” project are one response to these findings.
Join documentary Producer Emma Sassoon and Director of Education Fran Sterling to explore the enduring relevance of Katharine Graham’s legacy. Using curated clips from the documentary, this webinar will explore Graham’s principled leadership of THE WASHINGTON POST, her defense of press freedoms and protection of the First Amendment during the turbulent 1970s, the sexism she faced as publisher, her negotiation of the Pressman’s strike, and her unwavering commitment to the public’s right to know and the press’s right to print. Participants will revisit key Supreme Court cases on press freedom, reflect on Graham’s lasting impact on American journalism, and discuss connections for classrooms and communities to examine today.
In our current climate of competing political and economic interests in gathering and reporting the news, the dominance of social media platforms as news publishers, and the access of the public to reputable news organizations, this webinar will remind us of the critical role of the First Amendment in a democracy and, to quote David Remnick, “the first and most important job of journalism is to put pressure on power” – to uphold government transparency and protect the public’s right to access information.
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Get the Educator Toolkit to access resources for planning and communicating your participation in Civic Learning Week. The toolkit includes planning resources, sample social media posts, graphic assets, and more.
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