The media industry in which journalists operate today is in the midst of unprecedented flux. A flood of change propelled by technological, societal, and economic forces as well as political and legal decisions has washed away the foundations of many traditional media business models and undermined the standards upholding others. First Amendment challenges include: the "creative destruction" accompanying the rise of Internet and electronic commerce, the explosion of blogs, file sharing, and myriad new forms of media entertainment, and the push to increase electronic surveillance for both security and commercial purposes. In this environment it becomes difficult to see where the boundaries protecting free expression and the open exchange of ideas should be drawn and what role journalists can effectively play in this volatile new media arena.

This project provides journalists and teachers with the resources to grapple with such questions as: Do the fundamental principles of the First Amendment and freedom of the press still apply in all cases? Are there legal constraints when relying upon "confidential sources"? Do the outcomes of past historical conflicts over the First Amendment offer any useful guideposts in this unfamiliar terrain? Is the law the only constraint, or does the fear of public backlash or journalistic ethical concerns dictate how to proceed as well?

The First Ammendment Project is a project of the Annanberg Foundation Trust at Sunnylands in partnership with APPC, WGBH, MIT Education Cascade, The New York Times Learning Network, Vanderbilt Archives