Youngstown Press Club – Jacob Schriner-Briggs

The Youngstown Press Club will host Yale Press Clause Fellow Jacob Schriner-Briggs as its speaker for its first Speaker Series program of the year. He will speak on “Democracy, the Constitution and Freedom of the Press.” The event will be from 12:00pm-1:30pm, Tuesday, March 7, at Concept Studio, 217 W. Federal St.

Schriner-Briggs will take an in-depth look at the press clause of the U.S. Constitution’s First Amendment, particularly the structural role a free press plays within democratic societies, both philosophically and through the eyes of the framers of the Constitution. What exactly did the framers mean by “freedom of the press?” What should it mean today? What are some of the obstacles currently faced by the American press and what, if anything, can constitutional law do to address them?

Jacob Schriner-Briggs is a 2017 graduate of Youngstown State University and a 2021 graduate of Yale Law School. After receiving his J.D., Jacob practiced law in the Media & Entertainment Group of Ballard Spahr LLP and helped represent journalists reporting at the local, state and national levels. He is currently the Press Clause Fellow at Yale Law, where he studies issues concerning press freedom and First Amendment theory.

The March 7 event is the first in a series of speakers sponsored by the Youngstown Press Club, an organization that promotes journalism and other communications-related professions in the Mahoning Valley. Cost for the event, which includes lunch, is $20 for members of the Youngstown Press Club or $25 for non-members. Reservations are required and seats can be reserved at www.YoungstownPressClub.com.