CANOGA PARK, CA — The Free Speech Coalition (FSC) announced Wednesday that it will join with other organizations and groups around the country in celebrating National Freedom of Speech Week (NFSW) from October 16th – 22nd.2006 marks the second celebration of NFSW, which was founded last year by The Media Institute in partnership with the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation as an event to spotlight “the visionary principle of freedom of expression that forms the very foundation of our democracy,” the FSC stated in its release.

Under the slogan “Free Speech: The Language of America,” the project “seeks to raise public awareness of the importance of our free speech rights by mobilizing civic and community groups, schools, PTAs, companies, associations, media outlets, unions, nonprofit groups, libraries, scouting, and youth groups to take action during the specially designated week,” said the FSC in its release.

The FSC is encouraging one and all to “exercise their free speech rights by posting a message online, keeping a journal, writing a letter to the editor or displaying a bumper sticker,” the release states.

According to the FSC, the group is promoting the “week’s message to its membership with recommendations on ways they can become involved locally, such as writing letters to the editors of newspapers, requesting that local libraries set up a display commemorating the week and contacting their local civic organizations to encourage meetings on the importance of Freedom of Speech.”

In addition to mobilizing its membership, the FSC will also hold a number of online fund-raisers emphasizing the importance of NFSW, and the organization’s lobbying team from The Raben Group will be “pushing the topic as they make visits on the Hill on our behalf.”

Among the list of esteemed groups participating in NFSW as partnering organizations are the American Bar Association, the American Society of Newspaper Editors, the National Coalition Against Censorship and the Recording Industry Association of America, to name a few.

For more information on the event, visit the official National Freedom of Speech Week website – www.freespeechweek.org – which is maintained by NFSW founding partner, the Media Institute.