Students take on First Amendment, privacy and policy issues during summer in D.C.

Three graduate students in the UNC Hussman School of Journalism and Media — all specializing in media law and policy — spent their summers in Washington, D.C. working on media law and policy issues at top advocacy organizations and think tanks.

Kevin Delaney, a J.D./M.A. dual-degree student, worked with the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press; Natasha Duarte, also a J.D./M.A. dual-degree student, worked with the Electronic Privacy Information Center; and Liz Woolery, a doctoral student, worked with New America's Open Technology Institute.

Kevin Delaney, J.D./M.A. student and Roy H. Park Fellow
Legal Intern, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press

At the Reporters Committee, Delaney drafted sections of amicus briefs, performed legal research, wrote stories for the RCFP news site and news magazine, and updated sections of the Reporter’s Privilege compendium. In addition to providing Delaney with interesting legal work, the Reporters Committee made arrangements for him to visit the White House, Supreme Court, Capitol Building and the Washington Post.    

Natasha Duarte, J.D./M.A. student and Roy H. Park Fellow
Internet Public Interest Opportunities Program Clerk, Electronic Privacy Information Center

Duarte worked on a variety of privacy law issues, including NSA surveillance, data brokers and drones. She worked on Amicus briefs, Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) litigation, comments on agency rulemakings and reporting on privacy issues for EPIC's website. One of the highlights of Duarte’s summer was helping EPIC file a Federal Trade Commission complaint claiming that Facebook engaged in deceptive trade practices when it secretly used its users' data for psychological research. She also researched and filed a FOIA request for documents related to the FBI's Next Generation Identification biometric surveillance program.

Liz Woolery, doctoral student and Roy H. Park Fellow
Google Policy Fellow, Open Technology Institute at New America

Woolery worked with the policy team at New America's Open Technology Institute on a project dedicated to strengthening the transparency reporting practices of information and communications technology (ICT) companies such as Google, Twitter and Verizon. Transparency reports are used by ICT companies to share information about practices that impact user privacy and free expression, such as government requests for access to user information. Woolery analyzed the content of these reports for a series of soon-to-be-published memos highlighting current and best practices in the field of transparency reporting.

Interns pictured in front of the U.S. Supreme Court building, left to right: Natasha Duarte, Kevin Delaney and Liz Woolery. Courtesy of Liz Woolery.

Story by Liz Woolery.