Speakers and Events

Throughout the year, the Law School hosts speakers and conferences with a focus on law and media.  

On May 7th, Linda Geenhouse, Pulitzer Prize winning reporter who covered the U.S. Supreme Court for nearly three decades for the New York Times, and Adam Liptak, the current Times Supreme Court correspondent, review the year's cases and discuss what may lay ahead. Co-sponsored by ACS and LAMP. 

On April 29th, Susanne Craig, Wall Street Editor, Wall Street Journal; David Faber, Anchor and Reporter, CNBC; and Lucas van Praag, Global Head of Corporate Communications, Goldman Sachs, participated in a media panel, co-sponsored by the Corporate Law Center's Global Financial Crisis Perspectives Series and the Law and Media Program.

On April 16, 2009 YLS faculty members Bruce Ackerman, Ian Ayres, Jack Balkin and Steven Brill debate
"Journalism in Economic Crisis!  What Can Be Done?"  Moderated by Law & Media Executive Director Steve Nevas. The panel was jointly presented by the Information Society Project and the Law & Media Program.  

On March 26, 2009, Floyd Abrams '60, First Amendment lawyer and advocate who has, for more than forty years, presented the case for American media at the U.S. Supreme Court and in the federal courts spoke about "The Courage of Lawyers: Four American Heroes." This event was Co-sponsored by the Law and Media Program.

On March 24, 2009, Ira Glass, award-winning producer and host of the popular public radio program “This American Life” visited Yale as a guest of the Poynter Fellowship in Journalism, and delivered the Gary G. Fryer Memorial Lecture.

On March 3, 2009, Joseph Turow, the Robert Lewis Shayon Professor and Associate Dean at the University of Pennsylvania’s Annenberg School disclosed how web site owners lurk and use the data they collect to create deeply personal, concealed portraits of us over which we have no control. His findings have raised troubling questions about how individuals who wander the Internet will be able to protect their reputations and privacy on and offline. 

On February 13-14, 2009, the Law and Media Program hosted a conference, "The Future of Internet Speech: What Are We Teaching the Facebook Generation?”
Legal scholars, educators, digital media professionals and law students discussed ways of collaborating to educate millions of young Internet users who have become information gatherers and publishers.

On January  26, 2009, Jane Mayer, author of The Dark Side: The Inside Story of How the War on Terror Turned into a War on American Ideals was interviewed by Distinguished Journalist in Resident Linda Greenhouse and Truman Capote Fellow in Creative Writing Emily Bazelon.

On December 4, 2008, Dick Ebersol, Chairman of NBC Universal Sports and Olympics, who is responsible for all sports programming on the NBC and USA Networks, delivered the 2008 Kiphuth Fellowship Public Lecture. He produced eight of the top most-watched events in U.S. television history, led by the Beijing Olympics, which drew 215 million viewers.

On November 19, 2008, Kenneth Chang, New York Times Science Writer, "All the News That's Fit to Web: Working at a Newspaper in the Post-Paper Age". Mr. Chang has been at the Times since 2000. He was previously a science writer for ABC News.com.  He began his reporting career in 1995 after abandoning his pursuit of a Ph.D. in physics.

On November 13, 2008, Peter Rose’77, Managing Director - Public Affairs, the Blackstone Group, discussed his path from law school to service on Capitol Hill and into the world of private equity. He will share his perspectives about the intersection of business, media, and law.

On October 28, 2008, Student Press Law Center Executive Director Frank LoMonte described the expanding censorship of student journalism and out-of-school speech by public school administrators. His remarks set the scene for a forthcoming Law and Media Program conference (February 13-14, 2009)  that will focus on the dimensions of the problem and possible responses.

On October 10-12, 2008, the Law and Media Program co-sponsored a conference on The Constitution and Sexual/Reproductive Rights.

On October 6, 2008,  Linda Greenhouse, Knight Distinguished Journalist in Residence and former New York Times Supreme Court Reporter spoke about the Court and the trajectory of her career from Yale Law School. Co-sponsored by the American Constitution Society and the Arthur Liman Public Interest Program.

On September 23, 2008, Anthony Lewis, winner of two Pulitzer Prizes, discussed his most recent book, FREEDOM for the Thought We Hate, with Law and Media students.  

On May 20-23, 2008 Yale University hosted the 18th annual Computers, Freedom and Privacy Conference at the Omni Hotel in New Haven. The conference, subtitled "Technology Policy '08," was sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery, AOL, and Google, in conjunction with the Yale Law School Information Society Project and the Law and Media Program. The conference included workshops and tutorials examining a wide range of topics related to the future of computing, privacy and freedom in the online world--from data mining, wiretapping, e-voting, and electronic medical records, to file sharing, open access, social networks, and online anonymity. A networking reception for journalists and other participants in the Law and Media program was also included.

On April 1, 2008 the Law and Media program hosted a panel discussion on the process of investigating, editing, vetting, and reporting high-profile stories. The panelists included: Brian Ross, Chief Investigative Correspondent, ABC News; John Zucker, Senior Vice-President, Law & Regulation, ABC News; Jeff Leen, Investigations Editor, The Washington Post; and Eric Lieberman, Vice President and General Counsel, The Washington Post. Each panelist offered their views about the intersection between law and journalism, ethical and legal obligations, and the roles that attorneys and reporters play in reporting controversial news.

Read transcript of the panel.
Read news article about the panel.
View a photo gallery of the panel.

Other recent events included a Dean’s Program on the Profession lecture by Joel Hyatt ’76, the founder and CEO of Current TV. In addition, the entire Alumni Weekend 2007 was devoted to "21st Century Democracy: Elections, Media, and Politics," featuring  panels on “The Next Generation of Law and Media” and “The Media Covering Elections: Heroes or Villains?”