Student Journalists, Carolina’s New General Counsel, and Public Records

Date/Time
Date(s) - 09/27/2016
3:30 pm - 4:45 pm

Location
Freedom Forum Conference Center, third floor of Carroll Hall

Both student and professional journalists in North Carolina continue to complain about their difficulties obtaining access to government documents they believe to be public records. They complain about denials of access that seem to violate the N.C. Public Records Law and long delays in responding to their requests for records. Meanwhile, Carolina has a new general counsel, creating speculation about whether and/or how Carolina might change the way it responds to public records request. Come to hear what the new University attorney and our student journalists have to say on this important issue.

These will be the panelists:

  • Jane Wester, editor-in-chief of The Daily Tar Heel. She is a senior history major from Charlotte.
  • Sharon Nunn, a reporter for Carolina Week, a student television news show. She is a senior from Houston, Tex., majoring in broadcast journalism and Chinese.
  • Liz Schlemmer, a second-year master’s student studying reporting in the UNC School of Media and Journalism.
  • Langston Taylor, a senior studying multimedia journalism in the UNC School of Media and Journalism.
  • Mark Merritt, general counsel for UNC-CH.
  • Gavin Young, senior director of Carolina’s public records office.
  • Amanda Martin, partner in the law firm of Stevens Martin Vaughn and Tadych in Raleigh and general counsel to the N.C. Press Association.
  • Jessica O’Connor, a senior broadcast and electronic journalism and political science major, will moderate this panel.


Tagged: 1AD2016, First Amendment Day
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