The American Civil Liberties Union

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) is a non-profit established to defend the constitutional rights of American citizens. Beyond acting as the protectorate, the umbrella between citizens and the government, the ACLU is devoted to extending rights to people traditionally discriminated against. This includes people of color, women, lesbians, gay men, bisexuals and transgender people, prisoners, and people with disabilities.

The ACLU is important to all mass media professionals because it represents the legal frontline of our right to free speech, guaranteed us in the First Amendment. Without this legal protection our profession could not exist in the same capacity it does today. The United States was founded as a nation on the certain inalienable rights. The media represents our citizen’s right to free expression, to know what is happening in their world, and as a whistleblower for when our government oversteps its boundaries or fails to live up to its responsibilities. The ACLU is the muscle behind these rights, the ever-present boogieman to the overzealous bureaucrats. For all of the corrupt politicians, policymakers, and lobbyists out there who have quashed their conscience, their sense of civic duty, the ACLU is the organization that fights back.