The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation and Columbia University announced on Tuesday that they would team up to create an institute at the university’s Manhattan campus dedicated to expanding in the digital age the freedoms of speech and the press outlined in the First Amendment.
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The institute would also seek to influence legal debates over First Amendment protections that have faced new scrutiny through the lens of an Internet-connected society. Among the issues of concern: online privacy rights, free expression on college campuses and whistle-blower protections, an issue that has gained urgency with the prolific filing of criminal charges by the Obama administration.
The foundation and Columbia said they would split the costs evenly, representing the largest journalism grant in Knight’s history.
The institute has begun a search for an executive director and is expected to open as soon as one is in place.
Full version: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/18/business/media/knight-first-amendment-institute-columbia-university.html