When does the public's right to know outweigh an individual's right to privacy? Does a reporter have the right to search for any personal information available? Is there a difference between printed records and electronic databases? Should the government restrict media access to cyberspace and courtrooms?

Jane E. Kirtley, executive director of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, will address these issues in a lecture titled "No Place to Hide? Reconciling Your Right to Privacy and Freedom of the Press" on Monday, Oct. 20 at 4:45 p.m. in 165 McGraw Hall on the Cornell University campus.

Free and open to the public, the lecture is sponsored by the Daniel W. Kops Freedom of the Press Fellowship Program.

The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press is a voluntary, unincorporated association of reporters and editors founded in 1970 to protect the First Amendment and freedom of information interests of the news media. Since 1985, Kirtley has overseen the committee's legal defense and publications efforts and supervised its fund-raising activities. She also edits its quarterly magazine, The News Media & the Law.

A lawyer, Kirtley has prepared numerous friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of the Reporters Committee and other news organizations, including Reno v. ACLU, Hustler Magazine v. Falwell, The Florida Star v. B.J.F. and Dept. of Justice v. Tax Analysts. She has appeared on nationally broadcast programs such as "Nightline," "All Things Considered," "Today," "Crossfire" and "CNN & Co."

Her activities include serving on boards and committees for the First Amendment Congress, the Libel Defense Resource Center, the Student Press Law Center, the Freedom Forum's First Amendment Center and the editorial board of Government Information Quarterly. A recipient in 1994 of the John Peter Zenger Award for Freedom of the Press and the People's Right to Know from the University of Arizona, she was one of 24 individuals inducted in 1996 into the FOIA Hall of Fame, established to commemorate the 30th anniversary of the signing of the Freedom of Information Act.

Kirtley obtained her J.D. degree in 1979 from Vanderbilt University School of Law and received bachelor's and master's degrees from Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism. Before joining the Reporters Committee in 1984, she was associated with the law firm of Nixon, Hargrave, Devans & Doyle. She is a member of the New York, District of Columbia and Virginia bars. She also worked as a reporter for the Evansville Press, the Oak Ridger and the Nashville Banner.

Kirtley has been an adjunct professor with the American University School of Communications Graduate Program since 1988.

The Kops Freedom of the Press Fellowship Program was established in 1990 by Daniel W. Kops, a 1939 graduate of Cornell and former editor of the Cornell Daily Sun, to bring distinguished speakers to Ithaca annually to discuss issues relating to freedom of the press. The Kops Fellowship is hosted by the College of Arts and Sciences in cooperation with the American Studies Program.