[Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 17 (Wednesday, February 7, 1996)]
[Senate]
[Page S1073]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




              ALABAMA PRESS ASSOCIATION REACHES MILESTONE

  Mr. HEFLIN. Mr. President, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. 
Constitution were ratified on December 15, 1791, forming what we refer 
to as the Bill of Rights. The first amendment covers what we have come 
to consider the most primary and essential element of our freedom as 
Americans: ``Congress shall make no law * * * abridging the freedom of 
speech, or of the press.''
  Thomas Jefferson once wrote that if it were left up to him to decide 
between a government without newspapers or newspapers without a 
government, he would not hesitate to choose the latter. This year, we 
celebrate the 125th anniversary of the Alabama Press Association [APA]. 
Founded in 1871, the APA is the oldest statewide trade association in 
Alabama and one of the oldest State newspaper associations in the 
Nation.
  According to APA information, William Wallace Screws, the editor of 
the Montgomery Advertiser in 1871, took the initiative and invited 
newspaper executives from around the State to help build new 
communication links among themselves. On March 17 of that year, eight 
editors and publishers met in Screws' office and made plans to organize 
the press of Alabama. Newspapers represented in that first meeting were 
the Montgomery Advertiser, the Montgomery Mail, the Evergreen Observer, 
the Troy Messenger, the Union Springs Times and Herald, the Montgomery 
State Journal, the Talladega Sun, and the Opelika Locomotive.
  In 1872, at the first convention, 30 editors and publishers from 
every corner of the State came together to form a new association of 
newspapermen called the Editors and Publishers Association of the State 
of Alabama. Since those early days, this association has played an 
important role in developing the daily and weekly newspapers of Alabama 
and in helping to lead the State's economic and cultural development. 
The APA has also worked on behalf of the citizenry of Alabama by 
advocating stronger citizen access to government records and meetings.
  On February 24 and 25 of this year, editors and publishers from 
Alabama's daily and weekly newspapers will gather for the 125th 
successive year. The site of this anniversary celebration is in 
Montgomery, the same city in which the organization was founded. During 
this convention, they will hear historians discuss the role of 
newspapers in Alabama's history while also considering the future role 
of newspapers in the Nation's rapidly changing communications industry.
  The 1996 APA is led by its president, R. Douglas Pearson, editor and 
publisher of the Daily Mountain Eagle in Jasper. The first vice 
president is Michael R. Kelley, editor and publisher of the Clanton 
Advertiser, and the second vice president is John W. Stevenson, editor 
and publisher of the Randolph Leader. APA's executive director is 
William B. Keller.
  For 125 years, the APA has thrived under its first amendment rights. 
Taken as a whole, freedom of the press in the United States rests upon 
relatively firm constitutional footing. The media's general right to 
publish material, regardless of potential impacts on government 
operations or other features of national life, has been accepted. 
Winston Churchill eloquently stated the importance of a free press in 
his own country during the midst of World War II when he said, ``A free 
press is the unsleeping guardian of every other right that free men 
prize; it is the most dangerous foe of tyranny.'' I salute the APA on 
reaching this distinguished milestone.

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