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Dan Shelley knows that responsible, honest journalists are under heavy fire, and he wants to enlist the public to draw some of it away.

Shelley, the former SVP of digital content strategy for iHeartMedia, who takes over from the retiring Mike Cavender as executive director of the Radio Television Digital News Association this September, is working with a new First Amendment Task Force inside the organization to help do that. It plans to meet with leaders of TV and radio station groups at the NAB Show April 22-27 to set priorities and public messaging.

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In this interview with TVNewsCheck's special projects editor, Michael Depp, he talks about the strong stand that the task force is looking to make against assaults on the First Amendment and press access to government. He says honing a public message to that end is among the top priorities, along with emphasizing the particularly important work being done by local journalists.

An edited transcript:

Generally speaking, how do you see the threat level facing the First Amendment and press freedom at this moment?

Were forming our Voice of the First Amendment Task Force because its clear over the last couple of years that there has been an unprecedented attack on responsible journalism from all over the political spectrum, from all parts of the country, because of the increasingly divisive environment that exists in our country today.

Because things have become so polarized, responsible journalism has really taken an unfair hit. And so thats why in conjunction with radio, television and digital news industry influencers and executives, were making what we believe will be a very strong stand in defense of responsible journalism and to help the public understand better why it matters in their lives.

Media companies are doing, by and large, an outstanding job of calling the balls and strikes, keeping their noses down and not backing down when confronted with resistance from government officials and folks who dont want the public to know the real story. In many cases [journalists are] risking persecution, prosecution and jail time to make sure the public has access to the truth and knows whats going on in their communities.

To what extent is President Trump a factor?

It depends on whom you ask. Every time he or one of his surrogates uses the term fake news to counter a responsible news story that they just dont like, it certainly doesnt help our reputation with people who tend to believe as they do.

Its certainly a significant portion of the issue, but that in and of itself is not a problem. For years, the news media have not been held in the highest esteem, probably since the days following Watergate.

What are the task force's priorities?

Priority one is to work with members of our industry to make sure that they help us hone our message so that when we go to the public we can highlight responsible journalism on the national and particularly the local level because so many times all of the news media gets wrapped up in the same package with the same bow on it. That includes local journalists, who are exposing issues and problems that otherwise would not see the light of day. That exposure leads to solutions in many cases.

Sunlight always is the best antiseptic for corruption. RTDNA pledges to do a much better job of highlighting examples of where that works. We have always been a very strong voice and fierce advocate of the First Amendment and FOIA [Freedom of Information Act] issues.

With public mistrust of the media at an all-time high, how can the public be better enlisted to stand with the news media? What can media companies be doing more aggressively there?

We are fairly deep into the process of formulating plans to make sure that members of the public understand that when the local TV, radio or digital journalist is asking hard questions, its not because they want to be difficult or belligerent in any way, its because they want members of the community to know whats going on around them and shed more light.

Whats the message that the public needs to hear vis--vis press freedom?

The message they need to hear is that all journalists are doing their jobs, sometimes at great risk to themselves, to make sure that members of the public are part of a more informed and educated society that will help them make even better decisions and tangible improvements in their communities.

President Trump has flirted with revising libel laws in his tweets. Whats the appropriate response to those threats for now?

Theres only so much in reality that a president can do. There is no federal libel law. So its got to be a state-by-state basis. So wherever there is a movement in any state to change libel laws, thats a big First Amendment problem for us, and we, along with other journalism organizations and leaders and influencers in our industry, are willing and prepared to fight those efforts as best we possibly can. Thats an extreme danger to the First Amendment.

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RTDNA Ramping Up First Amendment Efforts - TV News Check