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Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism - Explanatory and Investigative Journalism in Iowa

Iowa Center for Public Affairs Journalism (https://www.iowawatch.org/tag/first-amendment/)

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First Amendment

First Amendment

Evans: Teachers deserve protection for protecting student rights

By Randy Evans / Stray Thoughts | March 4, 2020

A bill now awaiting debate and a vote in the Iowa Senate is quite short. It adds a mere 10 lines to the Iowa Code. But those 10 lines are an important legal statement Iowa lawmakers should adopt before they finish their work for 2020. Senate File 2331 says employees of Iowa’s public schools shall not be dismissed, suspended, disciplined, reassigned or in any other way retaliated against for protecting a student’s freedom of expression or for refusing to infringe on a student’s First Amendment rights. Currently, students in Iowa public schools have a right to exercise freedom of speech in the papers they are assigned to write for classes or in articles they write for their school’s student newspaper.

Open government

Open Government, 1st Amendment Champions From Iowa Pick Up Honors

By IowaWatch | September 27, 2019

IowaWatch honored an outstanding journalist and long-time advocate for newspapers during its seventh annual banquet Thursday night, Sept. 26, at the Des Moines Marriot Downtown. Carol Hunter was given the Stephen Berry Free Press Champion Award for a working journalist, journalism group or journalism educator in Iowa. Margaret Johnson was given the Randy Brubaker Free Press Champion Award for an Iowan who has done significant open records work over several years in a role other than journalism. Hunter has been at the Des Moines Register for nearly 15 years, serving as political editor, news director and now as the executive editor of the state’s largest newspaper.

free speech

Evans: Banning Fair Visitors For Speaking Up Is Wrong

By Randy Evans/Stray Thoughts | August 28, 2019

This year’s Iowa State Fair received spotlight attention from coast to coast, thanks in large measure to the presence of just about everyone with an itch to be the next United States president. Shoe-horned into this Norman Rockwell-esque portrait this year was an unfortunate incident that showed an embarrassing lack of understanding and appreciation for the important role freedom of speech plays in our state.

freedom of information

National Political Reporter Jenna Johnson To Headline Celebrating A Free Press And Open Government Banquet

By IowaWatch | August 13, 2019

The seventh annual Celebrating a Free Press and Open Government Banquet will celebrate the work of those who promote open government and an independent news media in Iowa the evening of Sept. 26, 2019, at the Des Moines Marriott in downtown Des Moines.

open courts

Evans: A Judge Should Not Prohibit Publishing Facts

By Randy Evans/Stray Thoughts | January 1, 2019

On the morning of Aug. 31, shortly after 8:30, a 12-year-old boy pulled out a gun in his seventh-grade classroom in Eldridge, a community just north of Davenport. In an instant, he directed his classmates to get on the floor and then pointed the gun at his teacher’s face and squeezed the trigger. Blessedly, he did not take the gun’s safety off. The gun did not fire.

journalism ethics

Commentary: Restoring Public-Press Understanding

By Stephen J. Berry | October 12, 2018

IowaWatch co-founder Stephen J. Berry called for rebuilding trust in the news media with better media literacy among Americans but also on journalists to adhere to strong ethics during remarks at the 2018 Celebrating a Free Press and Open Government Banquet in Des Moines, Iowa, on Sept. 27, 2018. We’ve published his remarks here.

news media

View “Ethical Perspectives On The News” Program On News Media Role

By IowaWatch | October 8, 2018

The weekly public affairs program, Ethical Perspectives on the News, dug into how the news media function in American society, particularly in this era when reporters are under heavy criticism for the work they do, and how they do it.

Journalism

Podcast: Journalism Credibility In Crisis

By Jeff Stein | October 1, 2018

Challenges facing modern-day journalism are at to a crisis stage as many Americans’ lack understanding of a critical news media’s role in society, IowaWatch cofounder and Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative journalist Stephen Berry said during a recent visit to Iowa and in an IowaWatch Connection podcast.

journalism awards

IowaWatch, Iowa Freedom of Information Council Honor Free Press Advocates At 2018 Banquet

By Taylor Odekirk | September 27, 2018

IowaWatch honored an outstanding journalism educator and a long-time advocate for open government during its sixth annual banquet Thursday night, Sept. 27, at the Des Moines Marriott Downtown.

college hate

Bias-Response Teams Criticized For Sanitizing Campuses Of Dissent

By Jasmine Putney and Shelby Knowles/News21 | September 4, 2018

Responding to a steep rise in reports of hate crimes on campus, at least 260 colleges and universities have implemented bias-response teams or other reporting policies to track such incidents. But the teams have created friction of their own, as conservative students, controversial speakers and followers of the alt-right movement claim colleges are sanitizing campuses of dissent, in violation of the First Amendment’s right to free speech.

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The Iowa Center’s mission is to maintain an independent, non-partisan journalistic program dedicated to producing and encouraging explanatory and investigative journalism in Iowa, engaging in collaborative reporting efforts with Iowa news organizations and educating journalism students. Read More »

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Investigative Reporting in Iowa

Census takers in Iowa sound the alarm about technology, training deficiencies

Iowa's census workers say they fear their count won't be accurate because of poor training, technology problems and other concerns during a troublesome 2020.

Source: The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA)

Worst dicamba damage in decades

Damage the herbicide dicamba has done to soybeans and trees is the worst seen since the controversial weed killer hit the market in the 1960s.

Source: The Gazette (Cedar Rapids, IA)

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