The Discussion and Engagement Guide supports community organizations, educational institutions, and professional audiences exploring press freedom, the First Amendment, and women's leadership.
• Community Organizations: Press freedom and First Amendment advocacy groups
• Higher Education: Journalism, Media, Business, History, Women & Gender Studies, Law, and Public Service programs
• Professional Development: Journalism, Media, Law, Business, Government, Communications, and Crisis Management sectors
Lesson Civic Courage and a Free Press: Teaching Becoming Katharine Graham: This week-long inquiry lesson explores how individual civic courage protects fundamental democratic freedoms. Using the documentary
Becoming Katharine Graham as a primary text, students will investigate what it means to stand up for constitutional principles when doing so is risky or unpopular. Civic courage isn’t just an abstract concept, but practical actions of defending public rights even when faced with significant personal and professional consequences.
Part of our "Stories For Democracy" Collection, this documentary and educational materials go beyond historical storytelling to cultivating civic courage.
By examining pivotal moments through individual lives, we inspire critical thinking, moral courage, and active democratic engagement. Becoming Katharine Graham reveals how one journalist's courage held the government accountable, challenged institutional sexism, protected investigative journalism, and defended First Amendment rights despite personal and financial risk.