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SWFL News Leaders Defend #FreePress

First Page of the United States Constitution
Wikimedia Commons
First Page of the United States Constitution

Newspapers across the United States, including more than a dozen in Florida, are pushing back against President Donald Trump’s attacks on what he calls “fake news” with a series of coordinated editorials defending the free press in this country.

The idea began with The Boston Globe, which estimates more than 350 news outlets are participating, including more than a dozen in Florida. On today’s show we’re joining that effort, and exploring the role the free press plays in our democracy, and the protections it’s afforded by our Constitution. We’re joined by Betty Wells, Fort Myers Senior Editor for Florida Weekly, Tom Hayden, Senior Engagement Editor at the News Press, Kellie Burns, Evening Anchor at NBC-2, and Florida Southwestern State College professor of journalism Ron Feemster.

Copyright 2018 WGCU

Julie Glenn is the host of Gulf Coast Live. She has been working in southwest Florida as a freelance writer since 2007, most recently as a regular columnist for the Naples Daily News. She began her broadcasting career in 1993 as a reporter/anchor/producer for a local CBS affiliate in Quincy, Illinois. After also working for the NBC affiliate, she decided to move to Parma, Italy where she earned her Master’s degree in communication from the University of Gastronomic Sciences. Her undergraduate degree in Mass Communication is from the University of Missouri at Kansas City.
Mike Kiniry is producer of Gulf Coast Live, and co-creator and host of the WGCU podcast Three Song Stories: Biography Through Music. He first joined the WGCU team in the summer of 2003 as an intern while studying Communication at Florida Gulf Coast University.