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Dominion and Smartmatic lawsuits against Fox News may not threaten press freedom
Will the prosecution of disinformation undermine freedom of expression? syahrir maulana / iStock / Getty Images Free speech advocates have long believed that suing a news agency threatened free speech. Democracy needs a press to be free to report, without fear or favor, the facts as it sees them. But recent lawsuits against media outlets indicate that the First Amendment offers sufficient protection for free speech, even when criminal charges are brought against the press. Lies have flooded public discourse in recent years through media such as radio, cable TV channels, and social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram. The proliferation of these lies has apparently normalized the practice of spreading lies. Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News in a Dominion, Smartmatic lawsuits against Fox News cannot threaten press freedom https://theconversation.com/dominion-smartmatic-lawsuits-against-fox-news-may-not- threaten-freedom- of-the-press-155677 Sat, 27 Mar 2021 16:39:44 +0000 tag: theconversation.com, 2011: article / 155677 This is the gospel for the First Amendment which advocates that prosecution against press organizations dampen press freedom. But in an age of rampant disinformation, such lawsuits may be more accepted. Nancy Costello, Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Michigan State University Will Disinformation Prosecutions Infringe Free Speech? syahrir maulana / iStock / Getty Images Free speech advocates have long believed that prosecuting a news agency threatened free speech. Democracy needs a press to be free to report, without fear or favor, the facts as it sees them. But recent lawsuits against media outlets indicate that the First Amendment offers sufficient protection for free speech, even when criminal charges are brought against the press. Lies have flooded public discourse in recent years through media such as radio, cable TV channels, and social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram. The proliferation of these lies has apparently normalized the practice of spreading lies. Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News in a Dominion, Smartmatic lawsuits against Fox News cannot threaten press freedom https://theconversation.com/dominion-smartmatic-lawsuits-against-fox-news-may-not- threaten-freedom- of-the-press-155677 Sat, 27 Mar 2021 16:32:15 +0000 tag: theconversation.com, 2011: article / 155677 This is the gospel for the First Amendment which advocates that prosecution against press organizations dampen press freedom. But in an age of rampant disinformation, such lawsuits may be more accepted. Nancy Costello, Associate Clinical Professor of Law, Michigan State University Will Disinformation Prosecutions Infringe Free Speech? syahrir maulana / iStock / Getty Images Free speech advocates have long believed that prosecuting a news agency threatened free speech. Democracy needs a press to be free to report, without fear or favor, the facts as it sees them. But recent lawsuits against media outlets indicate that the First Amendment offers sufficient protection for free speech, even when criminal charges are brought against the press. Lies have flooded public discourse in recent years through media such as radio, cable TV channels, and social media such as Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Reddit, and Instagram. The proliferation of these lies has apparently normalized the practice of spreading lies. Dominion Voting Systems sued Fox News in a few American students who never repeat a year, but that could change due to COVID-19 https://theconversation.com/few-us-students-ever-repeat-a-grade-but -that- might-change-due-to-covid-19-143883 Sun, Mar 28, 2021 3:02:41 PM +0000 tag: theconversation.com, 2011: article / 143883 The disruption of education K-12 caused by the coronavirus pandemic can have major school consequences, especially for low-income children. Pamela Davis-Kean, Professor of Psychology, University of Michigan Will it take longer for students to graduate because of the pandemic? valentinrussanov / E + via Getty Images With in-person education becoming the exception rather than the norm, 54% of parents of school-aged children expressed concern that their children might fall behind academically, according to a poll taken in the summer of 2020. Initial projections from the Northwest Evaluation Association, which conducts research and creates commonly used standardized tests, suggest that these fears are well-founded, especially for children from low-income families . Based on the association’s findings and my own research regarding academic achievement and socioeconomic status, I believe it is likely, based on these early projections, that the widespread and rapid shift to distance education will have negative long-term academic consequences. One possibility is that the proportion of students who end up repeating at least one grade at any given time could increase due to this unprecedented disruption. According to government data collected in 2018, only about 6% of American students had to repeat a year before graduating from high school before the COVID-19 pandemic. Any potential effort to have students repeat a grade when they cannot demonstrate that they have learned enough to move on to the next would build on some recent precedent. Beginning in 2001, with the No Child Left Behind Act, reading proficiency in third grade became one of the federal mandates for schools to receive designated components of federal funding. This federal legislation, combined with research indicating that children who could not yet read did better when they repeated a grade, sparked a wave of state-level legislation. So far, a total of 16 states have passed laws that prevent students from progressing to third grade until they are deemed competent on standardized reading tests. These state laws vary. Some states, such as Florida, require students who do not read well enough to repeat grade three completely. Others, like Minnesota, allow children to move up to fourth grade and provide additional reading assistance until they can read at what the state considers a third grade level. In practice, students generally do not repeat for more than one year. I consider it likely that the academic consequences of the extended period of distance learning that began in March 2020 will be uneven. These consequences are sure to affect more students as they grow up and face persistent economic hardship. The practice of having children who have difficulty learning to read in grade three repeat grades, no matter how well-meaning they may be, can be risky. For example, students who repeat a grade may feel stigmatized and less motivated to learn. Therefore, I believe parents, educators and policy makers will all need to try to fill the inevitable learning gaps that will arise from widespread distance learning during the pandemic. [Like what you’ve read? Want more? Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter.]This article is republished from The Conversation, a nonprofit news site dedicated to sharing ideas from academic experts. It was written by: Pamela Davis-Kean, University of Michigan. Learn More: 3 Ways To Promote Social Skills In Homebound Children receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute for Child Health and Development (NICHD).
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