By Justin Silverman

philip balboni

Balboni

New England Cable News founder Philip Balboni will highlight this year’s Masterman Institute symposium at Suffolk Law School. Balboni, now president and chief executive of GlobalPost, will be joined by several other journalism and law experts as part of the annual symposium on the First Amendment and Fourth Estate.

The symposium began last year after Suffolk Law alumnus Edward I. Masterman and his wife Sydell established the institute to provide a forum for “robust debate and exchange of ideas on freedom of the press and its attendant responsibilities.” Suffolk professor Karen Blum is director of the program. This year’s symposium is on March 4.

After founding NECN, Balboni served as president of the nation’s largest regional news network for 16 years. He is now leading GlobalPost, an online news venture that provides free basic access, paid subscriptions or syndication rights to the work of its commissioned reporters. Its goal is to provide for-profit international journalism at a time when traditional news outlets are slashing budgets and overseas bureaus.

Launched last January, GlobalPost is a refreshing concept given its faith in the free market preservation of international and investigative journalism. Said Balboni to The New York Times: “I believe deep in my heart and soul that the discipline of the marketplace makes for a stronger organization. It gives you a far greater chance to be a self-sustaining enterprise, without having to turn to government or foundations.”

A strong proponent of free markets, I’ve previously criticized efforts to legislate remedies for the newspaper industry. Proponents of such legislation are quick to claim that only newspapers can afford investigative and international journalism and consequently, they must be saved. GlobalPost may ultimately prove that such reporting can thrive independent of traditional newsrooms.

Also speaking at the symposium:

  • Joseph D. Steinfeld of Prince Lobel Glovsky & Tye, LLP Steinfeld is a trial lawyer who has represented clients in a variety of cases including First Amendment litigation and intellectual property disputes. He represented a well-known magazine in a landmark case in which the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court upheld a claim of First Amendment protection for parody. Steinfeld represented a major Boston newspaper in a leading First Circuit case granting access rights. On behalf of a New Hampshire newspaper he persuaded the New Hampshire Supreme Court to adopt novel procedures under the state’s “Right-to-Know” law and in 2007 he represented a television network in a high-profile defamation case.
  • Alex Jones of Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government Jones covered the press for The New York Times from 1983 to 1992 and won the Pulitzer Prize in 1987. He has been a Nieman Fellow at Harvard, a host of National Public Radio’s On the Media, and host and executive editor of PBS’s Media Matters. He is on the boards of the Committee of Concerned Journalists, International Center for Journalists, Foundation of the Society of Professional Journalists, Nieman Foundation and Democracy & the Internet. Jones is also author of Losing the News: The Future of the News that Feeds Democracy.
  • Florence Graves of Brandeis University Graves is the founding director of the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis, where a staff of journalists do major investigative projects on issues related to political and social justice. The institute, the first investigative reporting center based at a university, involves students as research assistants. Working as an investigative reporter for The Washington Post, she broke the story exposing sexual misconduct allegations about Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon, which led to his resignation. Graves also founded the national political and investigative journal, Common Cause Magazine.
  • Callie Crossley of WGBH-TV’s “Beat the Press” Crossley appears as a regular panelist on the weekly television show, providing media criticism. She was an Academy Award Nominee and Emmy Award Winner for the documentary feature, Bridge to Freedom, “Eyes on the Prize.” Crossley was a producer for the ABC News Program “20/20″ focusing on health issues; and for the prime-time special “Black in White America.” She was the senior producer for Blackside Productions’ upcoming PBS series, “This Far By Faith: Stories from the African American Religious Experience.”

Professor Blum said that any MCLS member who would like to attend this year’s symposium will be guaranteed a seat with an advance reservation. Please email me if you’d like to attend: President@SuffolkMediaLaw.com.