Knox County Public Library invites the public to join Dr. Stuart Brotman, Distinguished Endowed Professor, UT School of Journalism and Electronic Media, for a discussion of Free Speech: Ten Principles for a Connected World by Timothy Garton Ash, Wednesday, November 16, noon to 1:00 pm in the East Tennessee History Center auditorium, 601 South Gay Street. Books Sandwiched In is a series sponsored by the Friends of Knox County Public Library.

“Today, there is a great power struggle over the shape, terms and limits of global freedom of expression that is raging around us--both inside the smartphones in our pockets and inside our heads,” Brotman said.

Indeed, the internet and global communication have magnified and transformed the issues surrounding our precious First Amendment right to free speech. The author offers the reader a deeper understanding of issues such as corporate control of communication, influence of money, role of whistle blowers, possible threats to national security, and more. Edward Snowden’s release of classified information and China’s authoritarian censorship practices demonstrate the complexities of modern free speech.

Brotman is an American government policymaker; university professor; lawyer; and author. He is the inaugural Howard Distinguished Endowed Professor of Media Management and Law and Beaman Professor of Communication and Information at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. He also serves as a Nonresident Senior Fellow in the Center for Technology Innovation at The Brookings Institution in Washington, DC, and on the Global Internet Freedom Advisory Council of The Media Institute.

Books Sandwiched In will take December off and continue January 25, 2017.