Arrests of Alabama journalists are inexcusable

Arresting journalists for reporting information that they lawfully obtained from sources is blatantly unconstitutional. Yet it appears that an Alabama district attorney has done exactly that, arresting a small town newspaper publisher and reporter just days ago under a grand jury secrecy statute. The “crime”? Reporting on a grand jury subpoena provided by a source.

Digmon and reporter Don Fletcher were also unconstitutionally censored as a condition of bail. The court ordered them to have no communication about ongoing criminal investigations, including the school board inquiry that was at the heart of Fletcher’s reporting.

“Grand jury secrecy rules bind grand jurors and witnesses, not journalists,” said Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Director of Advocacy Seth Stern. “The district attorney should blame himself for failing to maintain the secrecy of grand jury proceedings, not jail journalists for doing their jobs.”

Stern called the censorious bail conditions a “fundamentally un-American attempt at retaliatory censorship to silence the free press. Everyone involved should be ashamed of themselves.”

For more, read our full statements on the arrests and on the unconstitutional gag orders. 

Press opens courtroom door in Google trial

On Monday, Google CEO Sundar Pichai testified as the star defense witness in the landmark antitrust trial against his company. And surprisingly — for this trial, at least — the public could actually watch his testimony. 

The Google antitrust trial has been marred by an unusual level of secrecy. Now, eight weeks into the proceedings, it appears that the parties and the court may have finally learned some lessons about transparency. But it never would have happened without the work of journalists and news outlets pushing for improved access.

Check out our blog post for more on how journalists have successfully obtained access to secret testimony, undisclosed exhibits, and out-of-reach transcripts in this historic trial.

Time to revisit undercover journalism?

If you’ve gone to journalism school in the last quarter century, you’ve likely heard of the Food Lion case, a landmark decision that significantly slowed the once relatively common practice of “undercover” journalism. 

But as we explain on our blog, a series of recent legal decisions have left Food Lion seriously weakened if not dead altogether. That means journalists have been limiting their reporting techniques for decades based, at least in part, on an incorrect ruling that has now essentially been rescinded. 

We’re not suggesting that journalists everywhere immediately start submitting false job applications and wearing hidden cameras, like the reporters in the Food Lion case. But as political campaigns, sports leagues, and government agencies increasingly seal off people and spaces to which the press used to have access, it may be time for the press to — carefully and in close consultation with legal counsel — think creatively about ways to get in through the back door when newsmakers won’t let them in the front.

What we’re reading

Biden blasted Times’s Gaza coverage. It’s fair game to criticize coverage of the war in Gaza. But if President Joe Biden is going to use his platform to scold the press, he should also demand Israel allow journalists safe access to Gaza so they can get the story right. As of the afternoon of Nov. 2, at least 35 journalists and media workers have been killed in the Israel-Hamas war, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. 

The dismissal of Brett Favre’s defamation suit against Shannon Sharpe is only kind of a win for the media. The former quarterback filed a defamation suit against a reporter with the means to fight back — ESPN’s Shannon Sharpe, who’s estimated to be worth around $14 million — and on Monday, a judge dismissed the case. But just because wealthy defendants can defeat frivolous defamation suits doesn’t mean all is well. Other journalists are likely to think twice about inviting lawsuits, even if they’d ultimately win. That’s why strong anti-SLAPP laws are vital.

Police chief took steps toward charges against journalists days after Kansas newspaper raid. Apparently not satisfied with his illegal raid on the Marion County Record, Police Chief Gideon Cody continued to press for charges against the newspaper’s publisher and a reporter in the days that followed. Emails obtained by the AP have also shown that the Kansas Bureau of Investigation was aware of the search warrant before it was executed. There needs to be a full, public, and independent investigation into how and why authorities came to target the Record, and why multiple government officials failed to stop an illegal raid on a newsroom.

FPF Live: Bad Press

Join us for a screening of the documentary film Bad Press, which follows Mvskoke Media, a news outlet based in the Muscogee Nation of Oklahoma, and its reporter Angel Ellis, as they fight against censorship and other threats to their newsgathering. The film premieres at New York’s Firehouse Cinema on Dec. 1 at 6 p.m. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with Ellis and the film’s directors, Rebecca Landsberry-Baker and Joe Peeler, moderated by FPF Executive Director Trevor Timm. Get your ticket here.