Ashley Messenger is senior associate general counsel at U.S. public radio network NPR, specialising in First Amendment, music, and media law issues. She previously served as editorial counsel to U.S. News & World Report and was the McCormick-Tribune Fellow at the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press. Early in her career, she was a commercial radio talk show host (KTEG-FM, Albuquerque). She is an adjunct professor in the journalism school at American University and has previously taught media law at George Washington University and George Mason University. She has also taught First Amendment law at the University of Michigan Law School. Messenger is the author of a textbook explaining First Amendment and media law principles, “A Practical Guide to Media Law.”