The Citizen Journalist: The Internet as a Tool for Freedom of Speech May 4, 2007

In support of World Freedom Press Day, Otterbein College and the Columbus International Program is hosting a panel presented by the United States Mission to the United Nations titled "The Citizen Journalist: The Internet as a Tool for Freedom of Speech." Local bloggers are invited to connect via wireless Internet and blog live during the panel discussion.

Panel members represent a variety of sectors from media and bloggers in countries with press freedom restrictions (whose friends have been arrested for blogging), to government and non-government organizations serving as proponents of freedom of expression:

· Lucie Morillon, Washington Director, Reporters Without Borders

· Nora Younis, Blogger and Human Rights Activist, Egypt

· Watson Meng, Founder, Boxun News, China

· James Viray, Director, Office of International Labor and Corporate Social Responsibility, U.S. Department of State

· Bridget Johnson, Columnist and Blogger, LA Daily News

· Moderator, Kirk Lawson, Executive Director of the Columbus International Program

Internet freedom is a key component of press freedom in the 21st Century. The U.S. State Department documents press freedom worldwide in its annual Country Reports on Human Rights. For the first time, the 2006 reports include a section on Internet repression. The United States is concerned with a number of countries that have continually poor conditions for the press, as well as countries with deteriorating conditions. Report available on http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/

The Panel is open to the public. For more information or to RSVP please contact [email protected] or 614-823-1600.