Florida Tech’s 13th annual Free Speech Week is hosted by the university’s student-run newspaper, The Crimson. It’s designed to remind the community that the paper and other student-run media organizations are truly a “free press” where students make all editorial decisions. The Week will feature a PBS Frontline podcast host giving the keynote, a free speech wall, a panel of local journalists and a “Live Free or Eat Free: You can’t do both” awareness-raising event where students can trade a free meal in exchange for their First Amendment rights.
The keynote speaker, James Edwards, an award-winning reporter, producer and host of a PBBS Frontline podcast, will discuss information from Un(re)solved. This multiplatform investigation looks into what happened after Congress passed the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act. Edwards will retell stories of many of the unsolved crimes, reported The Crimson, while documenting the successes and shortcomings of the search for justice.
“Journalism can do more than simply inform. It can provide a window into someone else’s experience,” said Ted Petersen, an associate professor of journalism at Florida Tech and adviser to The Crimson. “It’s hard to listen to Edwards’ work in ‘Un(re)solved’ and not experience deep empathy for the people whose stories he tells.”
Read more about Florida Tech’s Free Speech Week here.
