FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT Rosanna Cavanagh | 401.331.7209 | rosecavanagh.nefac@gmail.com
As the year draws to an end, we at NEFAC would like to take a moment to wish you “Happy Holidays” and thank you for all that you have made possible this year with your support of our organization. Our New England First Amendment Institute continues to thrive thanks to generous supporters like you. Over 50 people have donated to our annual appeal for our New England First Amendment Institute in the last two months, helping us raise over $4,500.
Consider the words of Susan Areson, deputy executive editor of The Providence Journal, on the difference we are making together.
“Reporters are reinvigorated when they return from training at The New England First Amendment Institute. They dig right into investigative stories large and small — and they share what they learn with colleagues. Their stories have ranged from police trying to cover up arrest and complaint records to workers from who were trafficked into the U.S.and ended up at a shipyard. This training enhances The Journal’s ability to write with authority, backed by facts, figures and documents. Our readers benefit.”
Until December 27, we will be accepting contributions through Indiegogo to help grow our New England First Amendment Institute. This money will help us better educate journalists throughout the region and improve the institute’s programming. We are not yet to our goal, so your help could be essential to our success!
In addition to our three-day intensive training conference for journalists, NEFAC has continued other projects in 2013 to increase government transparency. We have been a voice at legislative hearings across New England on open government issues, protested federal seizure of The Associated Press’s phone records by the Justice Department and the exclusion of photojournalists at White House events, examined the effects of the “Citizen United” ruling on the 2012 elections, and trained citizens and journalists alike at sunshine week events how to use their public records statutes. We’d like to continue to grow our programmatic activities in 2014. With your continued help we can! Thank you again for all that you do to support our shared mission to expand public access to government and the work it does.
NEFAC was formed in 2006 to advance and protect the Five Freedoms of the First Amendment, including the principle of the public’s right to know. We’re a broad-based organization of people who believe in the power of an informed democratic society. Our members include lawyers, journalists, historians, librarians, academics and private citizens. We work in partnership with the Initiative for Investigative Reporting at the Northeastern University School of Journalism.