State of the First Amendment Address on Nov. 2 to focus on free speech and defamation in the global century

Kyu Ho Youm, media law expert, will deliver the State of the First Amendment Address 5:30-6:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 2. The title of the address is “Beyond the First Amendment in the Global Century: Freedom of Speech as America’s Best Export.” 

The First Amendment Address, followed by the James Madison Award presentation, is free to the public and the University of Kentucky community at the Rosenberg College of Law’s Grand Courtroom. 

Youm is the Jonathan Marshall First Amendment Chair at the University of Oregon School of Journalism and Communication and affiliated professor at the University of Oregon Law School. His teaching and research interests are U.S. communication law, international and comparative media law, press freedom theory, telecommunication policy and digital freedom. His work has been cited by American and foreign courts around the world — including the House of Lords in Great Britain, the High Court of Australia and the Supreme Courts of Canada and of South Africa — as well as American and international lawyers representing clients in press freedom litigation. His research appears in leading journalism and law journals, including George Washington Law Review, Stanford Journal of International Law, International & Comparative Law Quarterly, Comm/Ent, Federal Communications Law Journal and Communication Law and Policy. Youm is the author of “Press Law in South Korea” and co-author of “Media Law and Ethics,” and he has contributed to International Libel & Privacy Handbook and “Media, Advertising & Entertainment Law Throughout the World.” 

Youm serves on the editorial boards of major law and communication journals, including Communication Law and Policy in the United States, the Journal of Media Law in England and Media and Arts Law Review in Australia. He is an International Communication Association fellow and recipient of the Research Award from the Korean Media Law Research Society and of the Guido H. Stempell III Award from Ohio University E.W. School of Journalism. He earned his M.A. and Ph.D. from Southern Illinois University-Carbondale, M.S.L. from Yale Law School and M.St. from Oxford University. 

UK's Scripps Howard First Amendment Center, housed in the College of Communication and Information’s School of Journalism and Media, is the sponsor of the address, delivered annually in celebration of First Amendment rights.