JAN 14 Hot Topics
Diana Smith | Published on 12/25/2025
The League of Women Voters of Orange County will host a Jan. 14 Hot Topics discussion — “Muzzled: A Siege on Speech” — that focuses on threats to First Amendment rights and what voters can do to counter efforts to weaken free speech and a free press.
Doors open at 10:30 a.m. at the Winter Park Events Center for a buffet lunch. The discussion starts at 11:45 a.m. at 1050 W. Morse Blvd. in Winter Park and ends at 1 p.m. Tickets are $30 for League members, $37 non-members. Register at www.LWVOC.org/HotTopics A Hot Topics Overtime will be held from 1:15-2 p.m. on the second floor of the events center to talk about the News Collaborative of Central Florida and the focus of participating media in 2026.
The moderator is Charley Williams, a former president of the League of Women Voters of Orange County. Panelists include Judith Smelser, president and general manager of Central Florida Public Media (formerly WMFE); Bob Shaw, a retired editor for the Orlando Sentinel who serves on the board of directors for the Florida First Amendment
Foundation, and Greg Herbert, a Greenberg Traurig attorney who specializes in media law.
Free speech doesn’t feel as free as it once did. News media are increasingly shackled by a lack of funding, attacks from public officials, censorship and a loss of advertising support from businesses. Popular comedy shows have been canceled. Employees have been punished for social media posts. And how do you deal with public indifference to news, a persistent belief in false narratives and distrust of American institutions?
Among the issues to be discussed at Hot Topics:
--How federal funding has been eliminated for public television and radio stations and what Central Florida Public Media is doing to cover that gap.
--How media can gain the trust of readers and viewers.
--Legislative initiatives this year that aim to speed up requests for public records and reverse or curb book bans in public schools.
--A pattern of state agencies and companies holding employees accountable for social media comments considered offensive.