• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, April 21, 2025

Publishers and journalists are ringing the alarm about the Trump administration’s assault on the media. But this issue is more complicated than it looks: at the same time, some of the reddest of the red states are standing up for the First Amendment. 

Take Iowa. Last week, the Iowa Senate unanimously passed House File 472, which provides anti-SLAPP protections against frivolous suits aimed at “limiting constitutional press freedoms," the News/Media Alliance reports. 

Yes, we said Iowa.  

The state Senate amended the bill to clarify that the protections only apply to civil actions filed on or after the bill’s enactment. But the Senate passage is significant. Prior bills passed by the Iowa House of Representatives did not make it through the Senate.

This one looks like it could make it all the way -- if the governor signs it. 

Anti-SLAPP measures are hardly unusual -- 35 states and the District of Columbia have them, according to 2023 statistics cited by Idaho Capital Sun. 

In March, Idaho Governor Brad Little signed an Anti-SLAPP law into place. It takes effect in 2026, according to Idaho Capital Sun.  

Does this sound like a movement to stamp out freedom of the press? On the contrary, the Iowa bill is “a uniform Act drafted by the national conference of commissioners on uniform state laws."

Granted, there is plenty of mischief afoot, like the administration’s refusal to seat Associated Press because of AP’s use of the traditional “Gulf of Mexico” name. 

But this bill would provide "expedited relief” to defendants seeking to squash frivolous actions. And, it would “protect the exercise of the right of freedom of speech and of the press, the right to assemble and petition, and the right of association, guaranteed by the Constitution of the United States or the Constitution of the State of Iowa,” it states. 

Moreover, a firm can recover court costs and attorney fees related to the filing of a special motion to toss the case. 

The battle is far from over. But First Amendment advocates clearly have friends in many places.