Press Freedom Panel
The Arizona Bar Foundation, in partnership with ASU’s Cronkite School of Journalism, is pleased to present an optional educational opportunity for mock trial students that aligns with the theme of the 2025 National Championship case materials and promises to be a highlight of the 2025 National Championship experience.
So, why should you give a hoot about ‘Press Freedom’ and the Fourth Estate? Come learn about the vital role of a robust and independent media in a healthy democracy. This panel discussion will feature attorneys and journalists who will share their personal experiences and those of their clients who have faced intimidation and threats for speaking out against power. The discussion also will highlight the courts’ role in protecting First Amendment rights and examine defamation laws that safeguard reputations. Mock trial students will have the opportunity to engage with panelists through a Q&A session. If space permits, coaches will be permitted to join their students.
Coaches can register their students to attend this optional event from the link in Tabroom. This event takes place on Thursday, May 8 at 4:00 p.m. at the ASU Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication – PBS Station.
David J. Bodney, a litigator focusing on media and constitutional law, is founder of Ballard Spahr’s Media and Entertainment Law Group. For over 40 years, David has defended print, broadcast, and electronic media in defamation, privacy, and related First Amendment litigation. In addition, he has significant experience litigating complex commercial disputes; handling matters involving intellectual property, American Indian law, and governmental affairs issues; and briefing several high-profile cases in the U.S. Supreme Court.
David’s practice covers a range of constitutional law issues, including prosecuting actions to secure open government, blocking prior restraints and subpoenas of reporters by government and third parties, and handling advertising, commercial speech, intellectual property law, and voting rights issues. In addition, he is regularly called upon to lobby and testify in legislative proceedings involving proposed legislation on a wide variety of issues.
Bill Gates serves as the Executive Director of the ASU Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory (“MODL”) and is a Professor of Practice of the ASU Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. ASU formed MODL in 2024 to serve as a catalyst to professionalize elections administration by furnishing “how to instruction” on bolstering elections administration, providing transparency and accountability, and combating misinformation.
Bill was elected to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020. In 2019, as Chairman of the Board, Bill negotiated a re-organization of the Maricopa County Elections Department with then-Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes. Prior to joining the Board of Supervisors, Bill served on the Phoenix City Council from 2009-2016, including a stint as Vice Mayor in 2013.
Bill has been featured in many publications regarding his work at ASU and as a member of the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors particularly as it relates to the operation of elections including the New York Times, Washington Post, Boston Globe, The Los Angeles Times, The Economist, der Spiegel, The Guardian, Rolling Stone, and Reuters. He has frequently served as an on-air contributor to CNN and has appeared on the CBS Evening News and 60 Minutes, Showtime’s The Circus, ABC’s This Week, Fox News, PBS, MSNBC, BBC, Bloomberg Radio and has been featured in documentaries on the 2020 and 2022 elections produced by HBO and The New Yorker.
Bill has practiced law in Phoenix, Arizona for over 25 years and serves on numerous non-profit boards. Bill participated in mock trial in high school, college and law school. His intercollegiate mock trial team won the National Championship in 1993. He has participated as a coach and regional coordinator for the Arizona High School Mock Trial program since the mid-1990s. Bill holds a B.S. from Drake University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Bill has been married for 28 years and has three daughters ages 24, 21 and 21.
Mi-Ai Parrish leads Arizona State University Media Enterprise and is the Professor for Media Innovation and Leadership at the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication. She is president and CEO of MAP Strategies Group, based in Phoenix.
Ms. Parrish served as president and publisher of The Arizona Republic/AZCentral.com and market president at USA Today Network, where the team won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for “The Wall,” a multi-layered, multi-media examination of the southern border with Mexico. Prior to The Arizona Republic/USA Today Network, Ms. Parrish held similar leadership roles at the Kansas City Star, and (Boise) Idaho Statesman, and an array of newsroom roles at (Minneapolis) Star-Tribune, the San Francisco Chronicle, among others. Parrish was the first Korean-American publisher in mainstream media, first BIPOC publisher in Idaho, Kansas City and Phoenix, and first woman publisher in Kansas City. She continues work in diversity and inclusion in media, the weaponization of information, and coverage of justice and equity. She is the chairwoman of Poynter Institute Board of Directors, vice-chairwoman of Banner Foundation Board of Directors, secretary of Greater Phoenix Leadership, and serves on the boards of the Associated Press, Common Sense Media, the O’Connor Institute for American Democracy, The 19th* News, Arizona Community Foundation, and others. She’s served four times as a Pulitzer Prize juror.
She holds a bachelor’s of science in journalism from the University of Maryland, College Park.
Ted Simons is the award-winning host and managing editor of “Arizona Horizon,” the nightly public affairs show on Arizona PBS. Simons moderates discussions with government officials, business leaders and policy makers about the issues, law, and policies that affect Arizonans in their everyday lives.
The long-time Valley journalist joined “Arizona Horizon” in 2007 and has interviewed everyone from Charlton Heston and Itzhak Perlmant to state and national leaders, including Hillary Clinton and many conversations with the late Sen. John McCain, but his most memorable interview to date was his conversation with President Jimmy Carter.
Prior to joining the team at Arizona PBS, Simons hosted the afternoon drive news/talk show on KTAR radio, worked as news director/morning show host for KZON-FM, and news/sports anchor/reporter at KPHO-TV. Simons was also sports director/anchor at KOFY-TV in San Francisco.
Simons has received numerous print and broadcast journalism awards, including Rocky Mountain Regional Emmys, the Arizona Associated Press Broadcasters Association Award for Radio Talk Show and Radio Newscast, and numerous New Times Best of Phoenix honors. In 2024, Simons received a Rocky Mountain Emmy for coverage of the passing of Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor.