VIDEO: Biden Touts Free Press

Vice President Joe Biden joked, "I always say what I mean ... the problem is I say it."

And then, after paying homage to New Hampshire's motto – Live Free Or Die – Biden referred to Revolutionary War hero Gen. John Stark as a former governor. Stark coined the motto, but he was never governor.

After that little historical anecdote, Biden devoted his energy at the Capitol Center for the Arts on Nov. 10 to more recent history: the power of new technologies to help spread freedom around the world.

"Information is power," Biden said. Technology allows for greater transparency, which he said was clear with the government tracking of federal stimulus funding.

The Portsmouth Herald is this year’s recipient of the Nackey S. Loeb First Amendment Award. The honor recognizes the newspaper’s efforts to change two state laws to protect free speech and to expand the public’s right to know.

Herald Executive Editor Howard Altschiller led an effort to change the state law that made it illegal to disclose the arrest or conviction of a person after the arrest or conviction had been annulled. The law was subsequently changed to give the public the right to see information about traffic accidents involving public employees or officials.