Written by: Blake Etringer

Professor Samantha Barbas, who holds the Aliber Family Chair in Law, recently spoke on a panel at the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival in Aspen, Colorado.

The festival, which is in its 21st year, draws hundreds of inspiring speakers and curious attendees to the Rocky Mountains each year to discuss critical contemporary issues. Barbas and her co-panelists offered their insights on the current condition of the free press in the United States as part of a session entitled “The State of the Fourth Estate.”

As an award-winning author and prominent legal scholar in the areas of the First Amendment, journalism, and the free press, Barbas offered several thoughtful comments on the state of journalism in the United States. Among other topics, she discussed the landmark 1964 New York Times v. Sullivan decision that granted extensive protections to journalists, and how these protections have changed under the current presidential administration.

Watch Barbas’ full comments on “The State of the Fourth Estate.”

Learn more about the Aspen Ideas Festival.