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Deborah Fisher

Deborah Fisher

Biography

Deborah Fisher is director of MTSU’s John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies. She brings more than two decades of experience as a journalist to help the College of Media and Entertainment expand national awareness of First Amendment issues, especially those involving freedom of information and public access to courts and official meetings

The Seigenthaler Chair supports a variety of activities related to the First Amendment, free speech, free press rights and other topics of concern for contemporary journalism. This has included distinguished visiting professors and visiting lecturers at MTSU, research related to free expression, seminars and meetings dedicated to expressive freedom and hands-on training for student journalists through the Seigenthaler News Service

Fisher spent more than 25 years as a reporter and editor. After graduating from Baylor University, she worked in newspapers in Tyler, Beaumont and Corpus Christi, Texas. In Corpus Christi, she was editor and vice president, after rising through the ranks as business reporter and as an editor on the city desk. She became The Tennessean’s business editor in 2003, and in 2007 was promoted to senior editor for news. In 2013, Fisher became executive director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides education on the state’s public records and open meetings laws.

Most Recent Posts & Articles By Deborah Fisher

New pope could bring American love of liberty to post

A roundup of Donald Trump actions against the press

Analysis of Voice of America case

Analysis: Pro-Hamas speech is protected by the First Amendment

Cross Purposes contrasts ‘thin,’ ‘thick’ and ‘sharp’ Christianity

Book looks at movement to ‘murder the truth’ by undoing libel laws

Authors use historical analysis and biblical text to explain White Christian nationalism in U.S.

New book on early Baptists chronicles political coordination for religious freedom, disestablishment

Religious freedom has had religious adversaries from the start

ABOUT US

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The Free Speech Center is a nonpartisan, nonprofit public policy center dedicated to building understanding of the five freedoms of the First Amendment through education, information and engagement.

freespeechcenter@mtsu.edu

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FEATURE POSTS

Take the Great 4th of July quiz!

Woodhull Foundation on Free Speech Coalition v. Paxton: Its meaning and impact

Self-censorship and the ‘spiral of silence’: Why Americans are less likely to publicly voice their opinions on political issues

VOA’s global impact felt long after the Cold War

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