Annual Reviews
2018 | Freedom of the press is a cornerstone of American democracy protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution.
And it’s under attack.
At the highest levels of government, the press is denounced as “the enemy of the people,” and media outlets are derided as “fake news.”
But we’re fighting back.
The New England First Amendment Coalition is the region’s leading advocate for the First Amendment.
We fight every day to protect press freedom, enhance access to public records, provide First Amendment education, and explain the value of investigative watchdog reporting.
Here’s just a sampling of what we accomplished in 2018.
2017 | Secrecy. Censorship. Speech Restrictions.
These are what stand in the way of the First Amendment and the public’s right to know. Too often the scale tips in favor of these interests. The New England First Amendment Coalition is here to minimize their effects on your freedom. Our coalition serves as a counterweight by providing: Education. Advocacy. Defense.
NEFAC’s mission is one that can be shared by all New Englanders: protect our First Amendment freedoms and hold government accountable. For 12 years, our broad-based, non-profit coalition has been the leading regional voice for protecting press freedoms and the public’s right to know about its government.
Here’s how we made an impact in 2017.
2016 | The last several months have been trying for journalists and the First Amendment. The marginalization of the Fourth Estate, claims of fake news, the belittling of political protests and the questioning of clear truths have overwhelmed American discourse. The conversation — often led by a president who considers journalists enemies of the American people — can seem a prelude to dark days.
That’s the message Margaret Sullivan of The Washington Post shared at our annual New England First Amendment Awards luncheon in February.
NEFAC celebrated its tenth year of advocacy in 2016, a testament to the generosity of supporters like you. With your continued support, we are training journalists and educating the public in desperately needed ways. We are protecting your freedoms and your right to know. We are preventing those dark days from arriving.
2015 | Public access has a face. It’s the face of ordinary citizens trying to understand their government in order to make an informed decision or to expose a wrong.
Boston resident Michael A. Champa shared these words in February after receiving NEFAC’s 2016 Antonia Orfield Citizenship Award. Champa recently prevailed in a public records case that he fought all the way up to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court. That fight for information, he said, is “a discovery process, often dearly earned and grounded in a basic American right to unfettered access to their government.”
Across New England, that right is challenged every day. But with your help, NEFAC is defending the public’s right to know and advocating for the First Amendment freedoms of every New Englander.