Insights on First Amendment Reporting from Kevin Goldberg
Posting: Tuesday, July 14, 2026
Kevin Goldberg is vice president and First Amendment expert at Freedom Forum, where he leads public education efforts and oversees the organization's network of First Amendment experts. He speaks widely at conferences, schools, and community events, and appears regularly as a legal commentator on outlets like MSNBC, NPR, and Forbes Breaking News. He previously taught journalism and First Amendment law at George Mason University for seven years and served as VP of legal for the Digital Media Association.
Earlier in his career, he spent 25 years in private practice advising clients such as the News Leaders Association and the Global Investigative Journalism Network on First Amendment, FOIA, and intellectual property matters. He holds a B.A. from James Madison University and a J.D. from George Washington University.
Kevin Goldberg
Vice President/First Amendment Expert
We asked Goldberg five questions about Freedom Forum and USA TODAY’s First amendment initiative:
Q. The initiative has grown from one reporter at The Tennessean to five reporters across the USA TODAY Network. What does that expansion tell you about the demand for dedicated First Amendment reporting at the local and regional level?
There is a strong positive response to the work the First Amendment Reporters Initiative has produced, and we are happy to help meet the demand for this content.
The First Amendment is increasingly visible in public life and public conversations. That was true when the initiative started with inaugural Freedom Forum First Amendment Reporter Angele Latham in 2022, and it is true today.
Audiences are responding to this beat. Here’s feedback that two reporters have received:
Tallahassee Democrat reporter Stephany Matat received a note that read, “Thank you … Blessings on you [Stephany] for defending the Constitution. Have a great day!”
Arizona Republic reporter Taylor Seely got an email describing one of her articles as “exactly the kind of journalism we need today. Thank you and keep up the good work! I'll be looking out for more of your articles on The Arizona Republic!”
During an event at the University of Maryland, USA TODAY reporter BrieAnna J. Frank noted that she takes optimism from her work based on the positive responses she gets from readers.
And Latham of The Tennessean told an audience at the University of Mississippi that:
“[P]eople genuinely love the idea of First Amendment reporting. And so, people are immediately engaged. They’re like ‘oh my goodness, like, I didn’t know that was a beat. I have these stories.’ They almost always have a story off the cuff to share with me. My list is very long. And they’re excited about it. But if I don’t introduce myself as a First Amendment reporter, or if I just show up to an event as a reporter, it really is much more of a mixed bag of reactions.”
Q. Do the reporters receive some kind of support or resources from Freedom Forum beyond the funding, such as legal expertise, editorial guidance, etc.?
Yes, we:
Provide training for the Freedom Forum First Amendment Reporters and their colleagues on First Amendment issues. Freedom Forum experts have run virtual training sessions for reporters across the USA TODAY Network on topics including “Navigating the First Amendment Landscape” and “Understanding First Amendment Basics and Countering Common Misconceptions” to raise the level of First Amendment knowledge across the board.
Serve as an ongoing resource for the Freedom Forum First Amendment Reporters and their newspapers. Freedom Forum experts — including myself, our First Amendment Specialist Alex Morey and our eight Fellows — are regularly quoted in the reporters’ stories. The reporters also reach out with questions about the First Amendment or to seek context on legal issues and doctrine. Those conversations help deepen understanding of First Amendment principles, but editorial decisions remain entirely with the reporters and their newsrooms.
One of the reporters came to Freedom Forum’s offices while visiting Washington, D.C. I showed her the various First Amendment-related exhibits we have in our workspace — a tour I give often to visitors — in order to further deepen her knowledge of how the First Amendment exists in the country now and how it has affected our history.
Publish the reporters’ pieces on our website, most often found on a page dedicated to the Freedom Forum First Amendment Reporters Initiative. We also promote their stories via our social media channels.
Incorporate the Freedom Forum First Amendment Reporters into our programs and events. I have interviewed Latham about her work and what she has learned about the First Amendment, as well as her community’s attitudes toward it, at events held at the University of North Carolina’s First Amendment Day and at the Overby Center for Southern Journalism and Politics at the University of Mississippi. I also interviewed Frank at the University of Maryland.
Q. Have the reporters found that audiences are engaging with First Amendment issues differently than expected?
Yes. We felt the response would be positive.
Audiences like these stories, and they like these reporters.
In the first seven months of the five-reporter program, from June 1 to Dec. 31, 2025, there were 420 stories produced and more than 5 million page views. There were an additional 1.98 million page views in the first quarter of 2026.
Beyond the numbers, the work these reporters are doing is being recognized for its immense service to their communities and beyond.
One example is the recent announcement that the Freedom Forum First Amendment Reporters have collectively been honored with a First Amendment Award from the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication. One look at the stories for which they are being honored tells you that these reporters were doing the right work in the right places at the right time, and people took notice.
Pictured Left to Right: Angele Latham - The Tennessean, BrieAnna J. Frank - USA TODAY, Cate Charron - The Indianapolis Star, Stephany Matat - Tallahassee Democrat and Taylor Seely - The Arizona Republic
Q. Freedom Forum’s bipartisan mission is to foster First Amendment freedoms for all. What are some ways the First Amendment reporters help Freedom Forum realize that mission?
Our nonpartisan mission is supported by our vision of an America where everyone knows, values and defends the First Amendment of the United States Constitution. People who understand the First Amendment will hold it more dearly and will step up to defend it when it is threatened.
We assist people on this journey by educating, engaging and inspiring them. The First Amendment Reporters Initiative is crucial to all three parts of this.
The reporters are making the First Amendment relatable to their audiences by covering local issues. As Freedom Forum Chair and CEO Jan Neuharth wrote when we expanded the initiative to five reporters in 2025: “[T]he First Amendment isn’t a lofty ideal; it’s a living principle that shapes our American experience every day. That’s the promise Freedom Forum works to uphold: making these freedoms real, relevant and accessible for everyone.”
Reading about a lawsuit may be interesting, but reading about a lawsuit being filed in your city or state that will affect your rights creates a relationship to the case that also enhances your real world understanding of the issues and drives your desire to continue to follow the issue and learn more, as well as hopefully being vigilant when similar issues arise in the future.
Q. As the initiative matures, where does Freedom Forum see it going over the next few years?
We hope their ties to their communities will continue to grow, their readership to increase, their impact to magnify and their positions to be central to their papers’ community service.
The Freedom Forum First Amendment Reporters have already started looking for ways to innovate, including engaging their audiences on TikTok, and we look forward to seeing that innovation continue.
We hope the First Amendment Reporters Initiative will serve as an inspiration to others. We agree with what Angele Latham said in a video we produced about her work: “Success to me would be able to build a beat and have someone else, a totally outside newsroom, look at that and say, ‘I want to do that in my newsroom’ because I think this an important topic that more people need to discuss.”
About Freedom Forum: Established on July 4, 1991, by USA TODAY founder Al Neuharth, the Freedom Forum is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) foundation dedicated to fostering First Amendment freedoms for all. As the nation’s foremost advocate for First Amendment freedoms, the Freedom Forum engages thousands of Americans each year in classes, conversations and celebrations of these essential rights, including through the Power Shift Project, the annual Al Neuharth Free Spirit and Journalism Conference, the Chips Quinn Scholars Program for Diversity in Journalism, the Al Neuharth Award for Excellence in the Media, the Free Expression Awards, the annual “Where America Stands” survey, the Journalists Memorial and Today’s Front Pages.
About JFP: The mission of Journalism Funding Partners is to strengthen the depth, diversity and sustainability of local news by building and shepherding relationships between funders and local news organizations. JFP is a recognized nonprofit that acts as fiscal sponsor, allowing foundations and individual funders to contribute directly to local news, regardless of the news organization’s business model. JFP manages the funds feeding numerous news initiatives, including more than a dozen Climate reporters in the Southeast, an Equity Desk at The Sacramento Bee, an Education and Economic Mobility Desk in California’s Central Valley, the Investigative Fund of The Miami Herald and for Inclusivity and Investigative funds at the Associated Press.
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Media Contact: Rusty Coats, Executive Director | rusty@jfp-local.org | (813) 277-8959
