Celebrate Anthem Finalists Now
Go back

First Amendment: New York Times v Sullivan

The Documentary Group PROJECT
First Amendment: New York Times v Sullivan by The Documentary Group

credits

Title
  • First Amendment: New York Times v Sullivan
Entrant
  • The Documentary Group

About This Project

Summary

Would the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's have been successful if there were no press to publicize the rabid hostility to change? Eminent scholars and experts address this essential question and others in The First Amendment: New York Times v Sullivan. The film traces the relationship of the press to the Civil Rights movement, how segregation proponents tried to stop coverage of the violence inflicted on peaceful protestors, and how the Supreme Court case created protections for journalists.

Goals & Objectives

Create an engaging classroom film providing important historical context about freedom of the press through NYT v Sullivan. Make it freely available online with teacher-created lesson plans exploring the role of the press in the Civil Rights movement. Produce intriguing public and teacher programs.

Results & Impact

The film was the centerpiece of multiple programs during Civic Learning Week, including a livestreamed national educator workshop and a public screening at the New York Historical Society. The film and lesson plans reached hundreds of teachers and students and has been viewed more than 2700 times.

the team

Robe Imbriano
  • Co-Director, Writer, Narrator
  • The Documentary Group
Gregory Blanc
  • Co-Director, Co-Producer
  • The Documentary Group
Marc Tidalgo
  • Co-Producer, Editor
  • The Documentary Group
Thomas Curtis
  • Animation
  • The Documentary Group
Kathleen Hall Jamieson
  • Director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center, Executive Producer
  • Annenberg Public Policy Center
Tom Yellen
  • President of The Documentary Group, Executive Producer
  • The Documentary Group