The Missouri-Hurley and Price Sloan Symposium will be held April 25 at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. The event, “Free Speech, Free Press or Free for All? Social Media and the First Amendment” begins at 8:30 am and will feature Brian Stelter as the keynote luncheon speaker.

Journalists, social media experts and legal scholars will explore the following questions: Is the First Amendment still relevant in the age of social media? How can we be sure that what we’re reading and watching is true? What can social media platforms do to curtail the spread of misinformation and lies? How can journalists make the best use of social media to gain audience and enrich their reporting while also protecting themselves from harassment?

The Price A. Sloan Fund for Media, Ethics & Law at the University of Missouri School of Law was created in 2016 by Price A. Sloan, ’88, and his wife, Carolyn Sloan. The fund supports a biennial symposium with a focus on issues in the areas of free speech, free press, media ethics and practice, and constitutional law (First Amendment). The inaugural symposium, held in 2016, focused on free speech issues on college campuses.