FCC Head Mignon Clyburn, Attorney Floyd Abrams To Speak at D.C. Event
FOR RELEASE: October 21, 2013
Contact: Richard T. Kaplar
The Media Institute
703-243-5700
Arlington, Va., Oct. 21, 2013 – The Media Institute will honor Senator Gordon Smith, president and CEO of the National Association of Broadcasters, and Josh Sapan, president and CEO of AMC Networks, at its annual Friends & Benefactors Awards Banquet Oct. 22 at the Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C.
Senator Smith will receive the American Horizon Award, while Sapan will receive the Freedom of Speech Award. The master of ceremonies will be communications attorney and former FCC chairman Richard E. Wiley.
Gordon Smith represented Oregon for two terms in the U.S. Senate before joining the NAB in 2009. In the Senate, he served on the Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee, which has responsibility for telecommunications issues. Rep. Greg Walden (R-Ore.) will present the American Horizon Award to fellow Oregon native Senator Smith.
Josh Sapan sets strategy and is responsible for the overall management of AMC Networks Inc., which owns and operates leading entertainment brands AMC, IFC, Sundance Channel, WE tv, and IFC Films. Brian Lamb, founder and executive chairman of C-SPAN, will present the Freedom of Speech Award to Sapan.
Noted First Amendment attorney Floyd Abrams will offer introductory remarks saluting free speech. FCC Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn will deliver keynote remarks.
The black-tie event coincides with the ninth annual Free Speech Week (FSW), Oct. 21-27, 2013 (freespeechweek.org), and is The Media Institute’s flagship celebration of FSW.
The Media Institute is a nonprofit research foundation specializing in communications policy and the First Amendment. For more information, visit the Institute online at mediainstitute.org.
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