JAWS CAMP 2025 Panel: Press Freedom & the First Amendment
(WASHINGTON, DC) - Join us this year for JAWS CAMP 2025! JAWS’ 40th Anniversary Conference and Mentoring Program (CAMP) will be held September 5-7, 2025 at The Royal Sonesta Hotel in Washington, DC’s Dupont Circle neighborhood.
JAWS will host a panel at this year’s conference titled Press Freedom & the First Amendment, featuring speakers from the Associated Press, Ballard Spahr, and Democracy Forward. This panel of legal and media experts will discuss the challenges facing journalists and newsrooms in our current era and how the industry is battling threats to a free press and free speech.
What happens at CAMP? This will be JAWS’ 40th CAMP. While the format and size have varied over the years, the goal has not: to bring women journalists together from different specialties, beats, demographics and geographies to share with, learn from and empower each other. There will be structured presentations and workshops, planned social events and free time for unstructured relationship-building and city exploration. The CAMP Site Selection Committee chose Washington, D.C. based on feedback from members urging a balance between an urban setting allowing easier travel with access to a get-away-from-it-all vibe. The committee also took into account the venue’s capacity, support for conferences, cost and central location.
Stay tuned for more programming announcements and updated information on the CAMP page.
MEET THE PANELISTS:
Anna Johnson is the Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief, where she oversees coverage of the Trump administration, Congress, Supreme Court as well as U.S. politics and elections. Prior to moving to Washington in 2022, she was the AP's news director for Europe and Africa based in London. Anna also held various editing and reporting roles including in Phoenix, Chicago, Cairo and throughout the Middle East.
Skye Perryman is the President & CEO of Democracy Forward, a nonpartisan, national legal organization that promotes democracy and progress through litigation, regulatory engagement, policy education, and research. Under Skye’s leadership, Democracy Forward has played a leading role in protecting the American people from harmful and unlawful federal executive action. Named one of the Time 100’s 2025 100 Most Influential People In The World, Perryman is known for developing innovative legal strategies, building unique communities and coalitions, and values-based leadership. Read her full bio online here.
Saumya Vaishampayan is a media and First Amendment lawyer at Ballard Spahr in New York City. She represents news organizations across the country, regularly defending them in defamation lawsuits and helping them obtain access to public records. Before becoming a lawyer, Saumya reported on global financial markets for several years. She spent most of her journalism career at The Wall Street Journal, based in New York and Hong Kong.