The First Amendment has been embedded in the Constitution since 1791, but former WAGA-TV reporter Dale Russell says it’s in danger every day.
“I think it’s always being chipped away at in every way,” Russell said.
For more than 35 years, Russell worked as an investigative reporter, covering everything from political corruption to everyday scams. His job depended on the First Amendment. He is now retired from the evening news, but continues to volunteer for a non-profit called Georgia First Amendment Foundation (GFAF). He still fights for the public’s right to stay informed and teaches a new generation to do the same.
“We do everything from going into the public and teaching people about the Open Records Act and how it impacts them and the Open Meetings Act in the state of Georgia,” Russell, a member of the GFAF board said. “We do a lot of teaching with governmental entities.”
The First Amendment protects freedom of speech and freedom of the press, among other things. The Georgia Open Records Act was originally passed in 1959, and its purpose is to give the public the right to inspect public records. Similarly, the Georgia Open Meetings Act was established in 1972 to ensure the public opportunities to participate in government. Russell believes access to information is vital to a democracy.
“Somebody has to be holding these powerful people accountable,” Russell said.
This year, Russell collaborated with Midtown’s Audio-Video Tech & Film program to produce a video that shared how access to open records through the First Amendment has helped the Chattahoochee Riverkeeper Organization monitor the health of Atlanta’s main water source. The video was edited by Midtown juniors Stella St. Clair and Julia Mayi.
“I didn’t really know what I was getting myself into, but I still wanted to explore it anyways,” St. Clair said. “And I’m really glad I did.”
St. Clair is a multimedia managing editor on the Southerner and a producer on Knight View. According to the 11th grader, she didn’t have much experience editing long-form videos.
“I kind of had to teach myself a lot of it,” St. Clair said. “It was a really good learning experience for me.”
Russell says he gave St. Clair the script and didn’t see her again for a while. He said the video was done and nearly flawless when he returned.
“Done by a high school junior, I don’t think it could have been done any better,” Russell said.
Russell was so impressed with Mayi and St. Clair’s work, that he hopes to have it nominated for an Emmy award.
Russell, who has worked in workshops with high school journalism students and teachers across America, said Midtown High School’s journalism program is one of the best in the country. He became familiar with it about a decade ago.
“I felt at that time, Grady had the best journalism program in America,” Russel said. “The work that I saw coming out of then Grady, now Midtown, was phenomenal.”
When Russell retired from WAGA-TV, he sought a new group to collaborate with on future projects. He reached out to Thaddeus Roberts, Midtown’s AVTF teacher, about Midtown students potentially helping him produce a video for GFAF.
“It’s important that it’s the students that do it,” Roberts said. “In classes like this, the key part is that students can do real-world projects.”
Russell says he wants to continue the relationship with Midtown’s program because the First Amendment can’t survive if the next generation doesn’t know how to use it and protect it.
“We all have a different voice, but we all have to be heard,” Russell said. “It’s like a choir. When you cut one part of that out, you’re destroying the music.”
