We are honored to have you with us tonight. Standard speaker protocol calls for me to make a joke at this point. [laughter] to relax the room, bring us together and let me move on to more serious subjects. David bradley, a wonderful support here tonight, is genius of this. The problem is, i dont know any jokes about the First Amendment unless i go all George Carlin on you. [laughter] and we have to keep this dinner pg. So i did what a modern person would do, i googled. I mean i asked alexa, i mean i asked siri. [laughter] about jokes about the First Amendment. Not much luck there. Not due to the technology. Of course. There are many stories about someone making a joke of the First Amendment and countless stories about whether the First Amendment does or does not cover jokes about mothers in law, police or various ethnic and racial minorities. The answer by the way is yes, yes, and yes. I have found some possible material from lenny bruce, but i figured we had that angle covered already. Seriously, i cant remember a time in my life when the freedom s of the First Amendment were more at the forefront of the National Conversation or more threatened. Later this week well release our first Quarterly Report on the state of the First Amendment. We created a panel of 15 scholars from across the political spectrum to grade how are we doing on each of the 5 freedoms. The composite grade they give us right now is c plus. Freedom of the press is doing the worst with a c. Freedom of assembly and petition, the forgotten freedoms , are doing fair at b minus. We clearly need help as a society, as there are some significant doubts about how were faring with our fundamental freedoms. Thats why tonight is so special. The six amazing individuals we honor tonight have been on the forefront of the battle to defend Free Expression and the rights of the First Amendment. They have reported from war zones, challenged the federal government in court, battled censorship, confronted the fbi over americans right to privacy and in a case of our Lifetime Achievement winner, risked his very life marching for civil rights for all americans. [applause] before we get to the winners, i would like to thank the trustees for their unwavering dedication to the newseum. The trustees commitment is long standing. In fact, in one of the scheduling miracles that could never be planned, today is the 20th anniversary of the opening of the first newseum in rosalyn. [applause] it was opened by then Vice President al gore. Id also like to thank our sponsors for their support of the First Amendment, Free Expression awards dinner. This evening would not be possible without your wonderful support. I would also like to thank some other people in the room and commend them for their work. Actually, id like to thank all 400 of you, but that wont be possible. Williams, our Host Committee chair, has always been a great source of support and council. The president of the Knight Foundation and former board chair is here tonight. Where are you . There is alberto. [applause] his own leadership and the Knights Foundation support has been absolutely essential to the newseum. I would also like to welcome our friends from the Charles Koch Institute and from the aclu. Not Many Organizations can say that. [laughter] and marty baron is in the house. [applause] the Freedom Forum will honor marty with the al newhart excellence in the media award in june in this room. Congratulations, marty. [applause] the newseum Mission Statement is the 45 words engraved in a 75 foot marble tablet in the front of our building. We welcome more than 800,000 people a year who visited us annually to learn about the courageous sacrifices made throughout history to uphold our fundamental rights. Our permanent exhibits including the berlin wall, the 9 11 memorial and the Pulitzer Prize gallery have become part of washingtons cultural landscape. Our newest temporary exhibit, rock, powerwords and politics, produced in partnership with the cleveland ,ock n roll hall of fame explores how popular musicians pushed the boundaries of Free Expression over the last half century. On friday, because our energetic staff just needs Something Else to do, will have a program on louder than words with deejay yella of nwa and little easy e. Ask your kids if you dont understand what im saying. Rap in particularappe has helped Free Expression from compton to d. C. In the last year, we held more than 50 Public Programs to explore critical First Amendment issues. Just this past weekend, members of the asianamerican band the slants were here to discuss the Landmark Supreme Court case against the u. S. Patent and Trademark Office over their bands name. Quick update in case you werent following, the band is suing the office for its failure to allow the name to be trademarked because it may disparage people. Well wait to see how the case is decided, but the case is already given the band a great name for its third album, the band who must not be named. Harry potter reference for the millennials, under control. [laughter] the Newseum Institute religious Freedom Center brought together scores of religious and Civic Leaders to help them navigate the intersection of religious and public life so they can train communities across america how to live together despite deep differences. We developed the first sweep of in class and digital courses to teach clergy and lay and Civic Leaders about religious freedom. Finally, our Museum EducationProgram Reaches more than 7 Million Students in this country and 152 countries across the world and provides them with digital Course Material about the evolution of freedom and Media Literacy. For instance, we heard this fall from teachers that they wanted to teach about the election, had to teach about the election, and had no idea what to say. You may have experienced that also from time to time. So we quickly released our digital collection, election stumped, which provided teachers with digital artifacts from our collection and course plans on how to teach about a contentious electoral contest. Were also doing a great deal to help students manage and overcome the tsunami of fake news that they, like all americans, encounter every single day, including our Summer InstituteMedia Literacy and fake news. Last wednesday, we held a symposium on the president and the press, the First Amendment and the first 100 days. Generously sponsored by the Knight Foundation and the covler , that brought together members of the administration , kellyanneean Spicer Conway and journalists from axios, cnn, brightbart, msnbc. Again, you wont hear that pairing everywhere. The New York Times and many other platforms to discuss relations between the media and the administration and how perhaps we might do better. David farenthold of the host and bob sheefer, one of the wise men of washington journalism gave a wonderful conclusion. We were covered by more than a dozen networks and hundreds of thousands of people viewed our symposium online. Our handle trumpinthepress was a leading topic on twitter, thoroughly crushing nationalgrilledcheese day. [laughter] as you can tell, one of the things im most proud of about the newseum is our nonpartisan approach to the contentious issues of the day. In a polarized city in a hyper partisan town, it is hard to be vehemently nonpartisan. Many organizations, frankly, face the temptation to drift ses and right as the basi funding move further from the center. However, we believe that the only way to advocate rights for all americans is to show favor to none and work with all. [applause] we believe the moment is now for the critical work we do here at the newseum. We will continue to preserve and protect these essentials today. And for future generations. To begin tonights awards ceremony, id like to welcome abc news president james goldton to the stage to present the Free Press Award. Thank you so very much and welcome to the newseum. [applause] thank you jeffrey. Good evening, everyone. Martha raddatz it seems only fitting, here we are. I will tell you a little story, and exhausting story about martha. Today martha got off a plane, 14 hours on the plane from seoul. Just enough time to get the lipstick on, get here. This is what shes done the last 4 days. On thursday, she was in washington reporting on north korea. She got on a plane that day, landed in south korea. She persuaded the generals on the ground to give her exclusive access to the oson air base. Just miles from the most militarized border in the world. She appeared in every single abc news platform. Then she interviewed the National Security adviser, h. R. Mcmaster. Made a bunch of news there as well. Just par for the course for martha. She does this all the time. She was saying she actually hasnt had a day off since the election, for which i feel some responsibility. I feel a little bad about that. [laughter] she had to invent a new word. There was a profile of martha and they invented a new word for her courage and toughness, her unflinching dedication. That phrase is called badassery. That is martha. [applause] she has moderated four debates. I am sure you have seen them. She did it with such vigor and directness that on all four occasions, the phrase Martha Raddatz for president trended on twitter. One of the things i admire most about martha, and that the reason she does has the trust she does in the military community is her passion for our troops and her commitment to what happens to them when they come home from war. She stays in touch with those who have been grievously wounded. She comforts families that have lost loved ones in battle. Her bestselling book the long road home, which details a terrible today firefight in the city in which Cavalry Division soldiers were killed. She is still in touch with every Single Person she spoke to in that book. That book is a poignant example of her commitment to remind us all of the sacrifices our troops make every day to protect this country. Now, our american democracy depends on reporters willing to pursue the truth even the most dangerous circumstances. It depends on people who will ask the toughest questions, who wont rest until they understand what happened and why it happened. It depends on people like martha who is unwavering in her commitment to bring the stories to life. Lets take a quick look at martha in action. One of the things i love about you as a journalist is that you go everywhere and you, youre getting ready to go where again . Im getting ready to go back into the war zone into iraq. We are east of mosul, american soldiers moved in here just about three days ago. How they fight. Just over to the right is russia. You do your job to press for answers. There are two issues entirely missing from your website. Can we stick to gun control . Answer the question. Please explain whether or not the muslim ban still stands. I love my job because i learn something every day and i share it. Its important for us to be a voice for the american public. What we do is try to find things out for you. [applause] martha, thank you for your fearless commitment to a free press. We are honored to recognize your superlative work. Join me in celebrating tonights Free Press Award recipient, Martha Raddatz. [applause] thank you so much. [applause] congratulations. Thank you so much. Thank you. Cheering and applause] thank you. I dont think i have ever gotten a standing ovation. I could get used to that. Thank you so much, i love being in this beautiful building. Thanks to the museum and the institute for this award. I am truly honored. And i know i am preaching to the choir here tonight. A free press is a unique cornerstone of any democracy. I stand here tonight on behalf of so many brave colleagues and friends in washington and around the world. I owe a big thanks to abc news me, support and facing and faith in me, especially our president and Vice President , our Washington Bureau chief and above all my tireless Global Affairs team, especially ellie brown, Lewis Martinez and my debate team. A special thanks to conor finnigan. Husband, who is a shining example of a journalist who makes a difference. [applause] it is no secret that we live in a moment when the free press is threatened around the world. When strongmen celebrate crashing down on journalists, when terror groups he had beheadists journalists rather than let them expose the truth, when we are viewed as the Opposition Party by some and when our competition is not just another network or newspaper but partisan voices and conspiracy theorists on line or on the air. While we are very lucky in this country to have a robust tradition of free press, nothing is guaranteed. What we value today can become a threat tomorrow. Its part of our job to remind people why they should value a free press. A free press is also not enough. Its part of a contract, a bond with our fellow citizens, and it comes with responsibilities. It has to be free but it also must be fair, fair to those who are maligned, those whose stories are ignored, those who who are not fair to us. Citizens must take responsibility as well. Challenges and in fact because of them, its a great time to be a journalist, because its such an important time. And so many have risen to the occasion. I must salute my colleagues at abc and elsewhere, but we have to be vigilant and remain independent. Dont take the bait and dont waste time on the trivial or shallow, focus on the issues, ask the uncomfortable questions, mine for the truth, study the details. In a word, elucidate. Despite the threats. In the face of power, on behalf of the people. Its what a free press it does. Its what is required of journalists. It is what a democracy needs and humbly, it is what i hope i have done in my career and will continue to do. Thank you so much for this honor. [applause] please welcome to the stage our next presenter, dr. Robert franklin, professor of leadership at emory university. [applause] christina ariaga is the daughter of cuban refugees who left everything behind to flee the oppressive regime of fidel castro in 1961. Shes never forgotten the lesson her parents taught her, if we have freedom, we have everything. Shes made it her lifes work to defend americas first freedom, religious freedom. As executive director of beckett , a Nonprofit Law Firm which has been nicknamed gods aclu for his work on all faiths from anglicans to zoroastrians. Truly a to tz. She is also a fierce defender of refugees. In 1992, as director of the villaderes foundation, the human rights group, she helped a cuban defector secure an airplane for a do or die rescue of his wife and children in cuba. The rescue was successful. Her success in the courtroom has oared. Tore in 2014, her firm won a Landmark Supreme Court ruling, exempting hobby lobby and other companies from providing or control to their employees in violation of their religious beliefs. In 2016, arriaga led beckett in protecting a muslim inmate in an arkansas prison to grow a beard as an expression of his faith. One another important religious liberty case when Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Little Sisters of the poor Catholic Charity would not have to pay 70 million in annual fines for refusing to provide employees for the control coverage as required by the Affordable Care act, returning the case to the lower court to resolve the conflict over contraception and conscience. Another case forced the federal government to give back ceremonial eagle feathers that had been seized from a native american pastor by the department of the interior. Ariaga has also worked for the u. S. Commission on civil rights, and in 2016, she was named to the u. S. Commission on International Religious freedom. Christina a look at ariagas work, defending americas first freedom. Ladies and gentlemen, the faith of the Little Sisters is the faith of every american, particularly americans that believe in minority religions, americans who adhere to minority beliefs. I love that in this country you can still have a Robust Exchange of ideas and religio