One case particularly galvanized American journalists. New York Times reporter Earl Caldwell was ordered to reveal to a federal grand jury his sources in the Black Panther organization, threatening his independence as a newsgatherer.

Caldwell's dilemma prompted a meeting at Georgetown University to discuss the need to provide legal assistance to journalists when their First Amendment rights come under fire. Among those present, or involved soon afterwards, were J. Anthony Lukas, Murray Fromson, Fred Graham, Jack Nelson, Ben Bradlee, Eileen Shanahan, Mike Wallace, Robert Maynard and Tom Wicker.

They formed a committee that operated part-time and on a shoestring (its first "office" was a desk in the press room at the U.S. Supreme Court). With support from foundations and news organizations, the founders built a staff and began recruiting attorneys to donate their services.

Almost immediately, the Committee waded into a number of free speech battles, intervening in court cases and fighting to keep Richard Nixon from retaining sole custody of his presidential papers.

In the last three decades the Committee has played a role in virtually every significant press freedom case that has come before the Supreme Court -- from Nebraska Press Association v. Stuart to Hustler Magazine v. Falwell -- as well as in hundreds of cases in federal and state courts.

The Committee has also emerged as a major national -- and international -- resource in free speech issues, disseminating information in a variety of forms, including a quarterly legal review, a bi-weekly newsletter, a 24-hour hotline, and various handbooks on media law issues.

Academicians, state and federal agencies, and Congress regularly call on the Committee for advice and expertise, and it has become the leading advocate for reporters' interest in cyberspace.

Important as these activities are, the Committee's primary mission remains serving working journalists -- 2,000 of them every year. And since its founding, no reporter has ever paid for the Committee's help in defending First Amendment rights. This is the incarnation of the founders' vision and the Committee's proudest achievement.