Peter Scheer

David Snyder, Journalist and First Amendment Lawyer, Named to Head FAC

David Snyder, a lawyer and journalist who has worked at the highest levels of both professions, has been selected as the new Executive Director of the First Amendment Coalition. He takes over leadership of the free speech and open-government organization on January 1. Snyder is an attorney in the San Francisco office of Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton, a global law firm. His practice includes litigation and counseling in the areas of First Amendment rights

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Can the First Amendment Survive President Trump?

BY PETER SCHEER—Freedom of speech is as fragile as it is precious. President-elect Donald Trump likes to talk about a future in which America will be great “again.” Freedom of speech—in particular, the right to criticize government without having to whisper and look over one’s shoulder—is why, frankly, America is great now. Freedom of speech derives from a mere handful of words inscribed on aged parchment  (“Congress shall make no law . . .”) whose

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Guest Commentary: Did the Media go too far in Disclosing a Secret Dossier on Russia’s supposed “kompromat” against Trump? Nyet.

BY PETER SCHEER—I share misgivings about the decision by multiple news organizations to go public with reports on rumors—all “unsubstantiated,” as they hastened to disclaim—about collusion between the Trump camp and Russian intelligence services; about compromising x-rated videos of Trump in the company of prostitutes during a 2013 trip to Moscow; about alleged financial inducements from Putin’s government to Trump; etc. But, on the whole, the news media handled this story responsibly in the face

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FAC Update

New ED Here at FAC we have been busy conducting a search for a new Executive Director. We received over fifty applications, the vast majority from highly qualified candidates in the areas of law,  journalism, public policy, business and nonprofit organizations. A committee of FAC’s Board, led by Board President Carol Melamed, has conducted dozens of interviews, both by phone and in person, to narrow down the field of applicants to just a handful, who

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Putin plays the media like a violin

BY PETER SCHEER–Among the many “firsts” of the current election cycle is the disconcerting spectacle of a foreign adversary successfully manipulating the American news media. I’m referring, of course, to Russian leader Vladimir Putin. After government cybersleuths, at his direction, hacked the Democratic National Committee’s computer network and the email inbox of Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager, Putin made the savvy decision to launder this digital cache through Wikileaks. In the history of PR strategies, this

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