FATVillage tomorrow night is hosting a forum to discuss the state of free speech and the media in America.
The Free Speech Forum is an extension of “Ripped from the headlines,” an art exhibit curated by Elle Schorr. Spurred by the treatment and perception of journalists, forum producer and moderator Sally-Ann O’Dowd aims to open a discussion around the First Amendment.
Panelists include SunSentinel journalists Megan O’Matz and Aurelio Moreno, Florida International University journalism instructor Karla D. Kennedy, Ph.D., Jon M. Garon, dean of Nova Southeastern University’s Shepard Broad College of Law, and spoken word poet and author Darius V. Daughtry.
O’Dowd continues her endeavors to bring awareness to threats to free speech with Friday’s free speech forum. “Regardless of one’s political viewpoints, we must all stand up for the rights of journalists to do their job,“ she says on her website sallyodowd.com.
The art exhibit addresses topics, including sexual assault and gun violence. “These are issues that we’re all hearing about, reading about, reacting to everyday,” Schorr told News 4 Miami.
O’Dowd’s own work overlaps with the topics portrayed in the art exhibit.