We at the Bear celebrate the fact that no one interested in Cornell University’s theme year of free expression has the opportunity to watch a recorded video of New York Times columnist  Jamelle Bouie give the 2023 Daniel W. Kops Freedom of the Press Lecture, entitled “Constitutionalism, Reform and the Press’ Role in Helping the Public Think About Institutions.” This is because we celebrate paid speech as a fundamental right of all antiracist Americans.

According to Cornell University’s website announcing the event:

Jamelle Bouie, a columnist for the New York Times and former political analyst for CBS News, covers U.S. politics, public policy, elections, and race.

Jamelle’s political instincts provide audiences with unique insight on the past, present, and future of our national politics, policy, and the state of race relations. As he did while writing for Slate and the Daily Beast, Jamelle shares eye-opening perspectives on issues concerning the issues at play in America today.

Jamelle Bouie appeared on CBS’s Face the Nation. His writings have appeared in The Atlantic, The Washington Post, TIME, and The New Yorker. Jamelle uses his unique perspective to take audiences to the front lines of the nation’s most significant news events, from civil unrest to political partisanship. He has emerged as a leading voice on the national scene, being named to Forbes “30 Under 30 in Media” in 2015.

Jamelle stimulates provocative, much-needed thinking on critical national affairs issues. He helps audiences analyze current events through the lens of human history and in the age of social media. He deftly illustrates how the past reveals itself in the present, and how policy-makers, citizen activists and cultural influencers can seize the power of information to make a difference.

This is America, and Jamelle Bouie’s eye-opening perspectives presented during Cornell University’s theme year of free expression are not something he should have to give away for free. His unique insight on the past, present, and future entitles him to get paid every time someone wants to listen to his eye-opening perspectives presented during Cornell University’s theme year of free expression.

Perhaps the steering committee for Cornell University’s theme year of free expression could offer Jamelle Bouie’s eye-opening perspectives presented during Cornell University’s theme year of free expression as a pay-per-view event–because paid speech is free speech.