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Little things mean a lot at the Newseum

Indianapolis Star column
by Warren Watson



J-Ideas Director Warren Watson blogs regularly for the Indianapolis Star. Here are his latest offerings:

Landmark First Amendment Research
with School Principals launched at Ball State

Ball State’s First Amendment institute has launched a landmark research project with 5,000 high school principals nationwide.

J-Ideas, a 5-year-old effort to support student journalism and First Amendment awareness, is reaching out to 5,000 principals to gauge their knowledge level and support for the First Amendment of the Constitution. The research coincides with Sunshine Week, a national effort to support Freedom of Information, an important principle of the First Amendment. <more>

-Campus free-speech thrives

-Ignoramcer in Palin, Dowd free-speech remarks

-Plainfield pays respect to First Amendment

-Banned Books Week

-Palin-tology

-Author creates First Amendment 'primer'

-New President must revive Constitution

-Traditional news misses Edwards escapade

-Protesters' rights fenced off

-Social networking pitfalls

-Bad year for traditional news gatherers

-Baseball and the First Amendment

-Principals and the First Amendment

-Remembering a crusader

-Photo ID law bad for voters

-Thoughts from the annual U.S. editors convention

-Need for print journalism remains

-Sunshine:now more than ever

-Mean-spirited fans

-Peter Jennings' legacy

-The First Amendment at the Alamo

-A New museum for news

-Author creates First Amendment 'primer'

-Unlikely First Amendment hero

-Harrison represented Hoosiers proudly

-Online course wraps for the fall

-Religious freedom for all

-Reading is FUN-damental

-Nothing negative

-Blogs grow in influence, but beware of anonymity

-Parent rides the bench after blog posting

-Student journalist's actions serves profession poorly

-Examining free speech online

-Remembering the courageous Elijah Parish Lovejoy

-First Amendment protects unpopular speech, too

Student journalists scoop professional press
Gerry
By Gerry Appel

In an era where student journalists are often criticized for poor decision-making, one student newspaper should receive praise after scooping its professional counterparts. <more>

-Principal wrong in pulling paper

Mile high with the First Amendment...
swikle
By Randy Swikle

We were north of the Mile High City near the Rocky Mountains. The principals were voluntarily descending—not from the tall peaks but from their position abutting the summit of school hierarchy. When they reached level ground, we could see each other more clearly. And clear sight leads to insight. <more

 
 
   
     
     
     
 
 
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
 
  Home > Warren Watson > Baseball and the First Amendment
     
 

 

Warren Watson
First Thoughts
June 3, 2008

Baseball and the First Amendment

The First Amendment and Fantasy Baseball. At first blush, strange bedfellows.

But a U.S. Supreme Court decision this week showed that the First Amendment indeed can be debated between the base lines.


Major League Baseball failed this week to maintain complete control of its players statistics when the high court decided not to consider a federal appeals court ruling that fantasy baseball leagues have the right to use players stats without purchasing a special license from Major League Baseball (MLB).


MLB had appealed a St. Louis ruling that its so-called “right of publicity” outweighed the public’s First Amendment right to free speech – its right to know.


Fantasy baseball is big business today, with revenues estimated at $1.5 billion.

So, the fantasy ballplayers won’t have to pay for the right to know that Ken Griffey Jr. is still mired in a batting slump, or that Carlos Zambrano is off to a 7-1 start.

Let the games continue. The score: First Amendment 1, MLB 0!

     
     

 

 

 

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Review of Future of the First Amendment

Two Connecticut researchers have become synonymous with the problem of poor First Amendment awareness in the nation’s high schools.

Ken Dautrich and David Yalof, professors at the University of Connecticut and backed by the Knight Foundation, have logged thousands of miles nationwide in developing a series of studies and followups about the First Amendment. more

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SPLC Exec. Director talks to Ball State students about 'Digital Freedom'

IHSPA 2008 State Convention: The Convergention

Bloggers and Online News Users are Better Informed on First Amendment

Dautrich and Yalof Publish book on First Amendment

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  J-IDEAS is funded in part by the 
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation's
High School Initiative
and Ball State University.
 
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