JAWS CAMP 2025 Recap - Sessions You May Have Missed: First Amendment Panel

Video footage courtesy of James Mae

(WASHINGTON, DC) - JAWS’ 40th Anniversary Conference and Mentoring Program (CAMP) was held September 5-7, 2025 at The Royal Sonesta Hotel in Washington, DC’s Dupont Circle neighborhood.

Anna Johnson, Associated Press Washington Bureau Chief (left) and Skye Perryman, President and CEO of Democracy Forward (middle)

Saturday, Sept. 6 2025

In conversation with Saumya Vaishampayan, Media & First Amendment Lawyer at Ballard Spahr (right)

Anna Johnson, the Bureau Chief of Associated Press Washington, and Skye Perryman, the President and CEO of Democracy Forward, in their Saturday session spoke with Saumya Vaishampayan, a media & First Amendment lawyer at Ballard Spahr in New York City, about the current state of press freedom in the United States and the status of ongoing lawsuits, including Voice of America (VOA) and the Associated Press, against the Trump administration for violating First Amendment protections. 

About the Journalism & Women Symposium (JAWS)

Arising from a first meeting of women journalists in 1985, JAWS advances the professional empowerment and personal growth of women* in journalism and advocates for more inclusive coverage of the diverse experiences and cultures that comprise our society. We believe that by advancing women in journalism, we transform the world.

JAWS brings together working journalists, journalism educators and researchers from across the country to share resources, support, training and information about issues that affect women in our field. We meet in person and online in an atmosphere of mutual support and enthusiastic interest in one another’s differing experiences and journalistic dreams.

*“Women” here includes anyone who self-identifies as a woman, or as a non-binary, gender-nonconforming or agender person. Learn more at jaws.org.