Freedom of the Press with Frank Smyth

At Frederick Book Arts Center

Saturday August 8, 6:00pm

The US Constitution’s First Amendment makes press freedom central to the new nation. However, throughout the past 250 years, journalism has always had to fight for this right. FBAC‘s current exhibition, “America Punctuated” includes a traveling exhibition organized by Maryland Humanities on the history of the free press in Maryland.

Where are we now? What can citizens do to protect a free press?

This event will feature an extended session of civil discussion and debate. Everyone welcome.

FBAC will set up one of our presses for attendees to print their own small broadside in support of press freedom.

Frank Smyth (pronounced like Smythe) is an independent, award-winning investigative journalist specializing in armed conflicts, organized crime and human rights overseas, and on the gun movement and its influence at home. He is a former arms trafficking investigator for Human Rights Watch breaking the role of France in arming Rwanda before its genocide. Smyth is a global authority on journalist security and press freedom

testifying to Congress and the member states of several multilateral organizations. Frank is founder and CEO of GJS, today the leading U.S.-based hostile environments training firm. He is the author of The NRA: The Unauthorized History, published by Flatiron in 2020. Frank is featured speaking throughout the documentary, “The Price of Freedom,” about the NRA and gun violence that aired on CNN and HBO Max.