• Was Obama’s 2015 address a legacy speech?

    Was Obama’s 2015 address a legacy speech?

    Jan 21, 2015 04:39 AM EST

    ... GWEN IFILL: Now we're going to get a longer view of the president's challenge to Congress tonight. Joining us are Beverly Gage, professor of history at Yale University, and NewsHour regular, presidential historian Michael Beschloss. Michael, did it seem like a legacy speech to you tonight, based ...

  • Health care gets a brief mention in State of the Union speech

    Health care gets a brief mention in State of the Union speech

    Jan 21, 2015 02:00 AM EST

    Whereas last year, President Barack Obama used nine full paragraphs of his State of the Union speech to sell his health care plan, the subject got less attention tonight. President Obama said that "health care inflation is at its lowest rate in 50 years," and he briefly touted expanded coverage ...

  • Long-lost audio of Martin Luther King Jr. speech found in UCLA storage room

    Long-lost audio of Martin Luther King Jr. speech found in UCLA storage room

    Jan 18, 2015 04:13 PM EST

    An audio recording of a speech given by the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. in the 1960s, long thought to be lost in time, was made available to the masses this week online.  The 55-minute recording of the speech delivered by the late civil rights leader on April 27 ...

  • Do Western Muslims face a free speech double standard?

    Do Western Muslims face a free speech double standard?

    Jan 15, 2015 02:10 AM EST

    ... And so whatever Muslims do is scrutinized, since many Muslims complain in the United States that there is a double standard for them, that free speech is not -- they don't enjoy free speech. If they criticize their government, they are seen as unpatriotic. If they criticize the policies of ...

  • France arrests dozens for hate speech; Charlie Hebdo returns with first issue since attack

    France arrests dozens for hate speech; Charlie Hebdo returns with first issue since attack

    Jan 15, 2015 02:03 AM EST

    ... They can not abuse such prophets who were sent by God. GWEN IFILL: While France celebrated free expression, officials also launched a crackdown on hate speech, with 54 arrests. They included popular comic Dieudonne M'bala M'bala, who has multiple convictions for racism and anti-Semitism. At the same ...

  • 'Selma' director Ava DuVernay on writing new speeches for MLK

    'Selma' director Ava DuVernay on writing new speeches for MLK

    Jan 08, 2015 11:30 PM EST

    ... known is the extent to which director Ava DuVernay rewrote much of the script -- and that includes writing her own versions of Dr. King's speeches. As she explained to Gwen Ifill in our interview, DuVernay was not given permission to use the speeches through King's estate. They instead ...

  • Parisians protest attack on Charlie Hebdo and free speech - Part 2

    Parisians protest attack on Charlie Hebdo and free speech - Part 2

    Jan 08, 2015 02:03 AM EST

    ... cartoons are a great tradition. And they feel that this is a real affront. And people are offended. And they feel that a freedom of speech, a basic freedom is under attack here. And that is something that is coming across -- across very clearly tonight. JUDY WOODRUFF: But, Mark, is ...

  • Supreme Court tests limits of free speech online with case on social media threats

    Supreme Court tests limits of free speech online with case on social media threats

    Dec 02, 2014 01:10 AM EST

    ... JUDY WOODRUFF: When writing in social media, like Facebook, what is defined as a threat and what is protected by free speech? That was the question at the center of a case before the Supreme Court today. Jeffrey Brown has the story. And a warning: This case contains some ...

  • Should threatening speech be protected on Facebook?

    Should threatening speech be protected on Facebook?

    Dec 01, 2014 03:50 PM EST

    ... objective person perceives the message. For more than four decades, the Supreme Court has said that "true threats" to harm another person are not protected speech under the First Amendment. But the court has been careful to distinguish threats from protected speech such as "political hyperbole" or "unpleasantly sharp attacks ...

  • Supreme Court considers extent of free speech over Internet

    Supreme Court considers extent of free speech over Internet

    Nov 30, 2014 04:32 PM EST

    ... objective person perceives the message. For more than four decades, the Supreme Court has said that "true threats" to harm another person are not protected speech under the First Amendment. But the court has been careful to distinguish threats from protected speech such as "political hyperbole" or "unpleasantly sharp attacks ...