Disney and Ron DeSantis Battle in Court
Ask Students: Who is Ron DeSantis? Where is the Walt Disney Company based? When did DeSantis begin challenging Disney’s land rights within the state?
The battle between the Walt Disney Company and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has eclipsed politics and is now playing out in the courts. In a lawsuit, Disney accuses DeSantis and his allies overseeing the company’s special taxing district of violating the company’s constitutional rights. Geoff Bennett discussed the case with Arian Campo-Flores, who is covering the story for The Wall Street Journal.
For a transcript of the story, click here.
Discussion Questions
- Who is Ron DeSantis?
- Where is the Walt Disney Company based?
- When did DeSantis begin challenging Disney’s land rights within the state?
- Why is Disney now suing DeSantis in court?
- How did DeSantis and other Republican officials in Florida seem to single out Disney?
Focus Questions
What do you think are the consequences of government actors targeting individual businesses based on political disputes? Can you think of any other examples, either on the state or federal level?
Media Literacy: Why do you think PBS NewsHour interviewed a journalist from another publication for this story instead of investigating with their own journalists?
Extension Activity
Read this article to better understand Disney’s lawsuit against DeSantis and the state of Florida. Then as a class, discuss — Should companies have stronger First Amendment protections to guard against political targeting? If so, what would those protections be? What might be some negative consequences of granting companies stronger free speech protections?
LGBTQ-Inclusive Lesson Plans, Resources and Activities
Supplement your lesson planning with our collection of LGBTQ-inclusive resources and lesson plans for preK-12 and higher education.
Republished with permission from PBS NewsHour Classroom.
PBS NewsHour Classroom helps teachers and students identify the who, what, where and why-it-matters of the major national and international news stories. The site combines the best of NewsHour's reliable, trustworthy news program with lesson plans developed specifically for... See More
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