A Reporter's Resource by Helen Ruhlin Check out the website here: https://ruhlin9.wixsite.com/mysite
How to Do Your Job in an Era of Digital Surveillance; A Journalist’s Toolbox
Texas v. Johnson (1989)
By Helen Ruhlin
Should we take a hint from Germany?
At this point, we’ve heard the major arguments as to why a universal freedom of speech is the silver lining in American culture. It isn’t so much about the ability to say as we please but rather the fear of the snowball effect that the contrary could cause that keeps us so passionate about the... Continue Reading →
The Patriot Act is a funny way of saying unjustified snooping
As we're arguably amidst the most digitally intrusive era known to man, there are few "national security" or "anti-terrorism" federal acts that seem to surprise me anymore. After reading about the Patriot Act in Chapter 6 though––I was a little shocked. "Source Protection in the Age of Surveillance" from Journalism After Snowden by Emily Bell... Continue Reading →
If money talks, are religious donations a form of free speech?
So far in Media and the First Amendment (COMM 320), we've learned two things about money: it's fungible, and it conveys a message. So on the topic of free speech, what kinds of donations are First Amendment dilemmas? The answer is religious ones . . . well, political ones too, but we'll save that for... Continue Reading →
Ever been called the B-word in Boston? You may be entitled to compensation.
"What a b!tch!" "B!tch please." "SON OF A B!TCH!" Whether it comes from a college frat bro, a drunken Red Sox fan, a Starbucks-yielding lady you accidentally bumped into on the street, or the average Massachusetts driver on a Monday morning––getting called a bitch is basically Boston's rite of passage. The well-known swear first got... Continue Reading →
Content regulation: Is it about what we say or how we say it?
While a first-reading of Vikram Amar's The First Amendment: Freedom of Speech; Its Constitutional History and the Contemporary Debate can often leave you feeling like "what did I just read?" the message behind content regulations in Part III is actually pretty relevant. The two types of content limitations presented in Amar's book are content-neutral and... Continue Reading →
Random Rants
There is a thin line to the first amendment regarding free speech and its repercussions Often , people voice their opinions without realizing the consequences. For e.g. Kanye West and his rant about abolishing the 13th Amendment on the opening of the SNL season. The strides that blacks have made to be recognized and respected has... Continue Reading →
Exercising my right to call you a piece of sh*t
This New York Times opinion piece brought to my attention the latest addition to the conversation of free speech on college campuses. On September 27th, Professor Mitchell Langbert wrote an entry on his blog* where he characterizes sexual assault as an rite of passage for young men. A response following the allegations against Kavanaugh, Langbert... Continue Reading →
People over Government and Public Officials !
After reading the chapters New York Times v. Sullivan, Near v. Minnesota and Hustler Magazine v. Falwell in Freedom of the Press, I felt conflicted. On a side note these cases have do with freedom of press. I like being informed what is happening in the news. I like the freedom I could write an opinion... Continue Reading →
Free Press Free Speech 