Tell your senator to stop KOSA
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Dear friend of press freedom,
Here are some of the most important stories we’re following from the U.S. and around the world. If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please forward it to friends and family. If someone has forwarded you this newsletter, please subscribe here ([link removed]) .
U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton, a man with so much irrational hatred for the free press that he must have something awful to hide from it, called for an investigation of major news outlets for supporting terrorism following a reckless "report" speculating that the U.S. media had advance notice of Hamas's Oct. 7th attack. "Tom Cotton ([link removed]) " by Gage Skidmore ([link removed]) is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 ([link removed]) .
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** Disinfo campaign threatens journalists’ lives in Gaza
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A group called HonestReporting published a report ([link removed]) insinuating that any freelance photojournalist who took pictures during Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack on Israel must have collaborated with Hamas and speculating, “[d]id the photojournalists who freelance for other media, like CNN and The New York Times, notify these outlets?”
Subsequent analysis ([link removed]) – which HonestReporting didn’t bother to conduct before publishing — confirms the stringers were not present at the start of the attack. And HonestReporting itself admitted ([link removed]) it had no proof for the outrageous claim that U.S. news outlets had advance notice.
But that hasn’t stopped other news outlets ([link removed]) , Israeli officials ([link removed]) , and one American senator ([link removed]) from accusing the media of complicity with Hamas. Tellingly, none of those concerned about over-reliance on Gazan freelancers have urged Israel to allow foreign journalists access to cover ([link removed]) the war themselves.
Read our discussion ([link removed]) of HonestReporting’s reckless disinformation campaign and what the Biden administration needs to do to mitigate the harm it caused.
Stop the Kids Online Safety Act
The Senate is reportedly ([link removed]) trying to quickly push through the Kids Online Safety Act. As we’ve explained ([link removed]) , KOSA is a censorship bill that will mean less access to online information — including journalism — for everyone, not just kids. Contact your senator today ([link removed]) and tell them to stop KOSA.
#FreeAlsu: U.S. must designate journalist as wrongfully detained
Alsu Kurmasheva ([link removed]) , a dual U.S.-Russian citizen and reporter for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has been imprisoned in Russia since October for allegedly violating Russia’s notorious “foreign agents” law. She’s the second American journalist imprisoned in Russia this year, following the bogus espionage charges brought against Wall Street Journal reporter Evan Gershkovich ([link removed]) in March.
There are simple steps the Biden administration can take — but inexplicably hasn’t yet — to help her get home. Read more about what the U.S. could be doing ([link removed]) , and contact your representative in Congress to tell them to urge Secretary of State Anthony Blinken to immediately designate Kurmasheva as wrongfully detained ([link removed]) .
Are journalists raided because they’re doing their jobs too well?
Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Deputy Director of Advocacy Caitlin Vogus spoke about the FBI raid ([link removed]) on journalist Tim Burke’s home newsroom and its connection to other recent press freedom threats on the National Press Club’s “Update-1” ([link removed]) podcast.
More than 50 press freedom organizations have sent a letter ([link removed]) (PDF) to the Department of Justice demanding transparency about the raid and the investigation. The DOJ has not responded.
** Press freedom in Gaza
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Journalists make up only a tiny fraction of the casualties of the war in Gaza. Their deaths are no more or less tragic than anyone else’s. But journalists can only tell the stories of all the others impacted by the war if they can report without fear of being targeted.
Here are some recent stories about the dire situation the press is facing as it attempts to cover the most deadly war for journalists in recent memory.
Israel-Hamas war takes deadly toll on journalists covering the conflict ([link removed])
We were interviewing a Palestinian farmer. Then the drone and soldiers appeared ([link removed])
Gaza’s journalists rush to document Israeli bombardments. Dozens have paid with their lives ([link removed])
‘There has never been less tolerance for this’: Inside a New York Times Magazine writer’s exit over Gaza letter ([link removed])
Hundreds of journalists sign letter protesting coverage of Israel ([link removed])
** What we’re reading
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Ocasio-Cortez, Greene among lawmakers urging Biden to drop Assange extradition, prosecution ([link removed]) . Lawmakers from across the political spectrum are urging the Biden administration to drop its prosecution of Julian Assange because it “risks criminalizing common journalistic practices and thus chilling the work of the free press.”
Well, it looks like pretty much every government agency was complicit in the raid of a small town newspaper ([link removed]) . The Kansas Reflector ([link removed]) and others have been doggedly reporting on the negligence, corruption, and deceit by government agencies involved in the August raid of the Marion County Record. TechDirt explains: “When the small town paper fought back, most of those involved did everything they could to pretend they weren’t complicit.”
US privacy groups urge Senate not to ram through NSA spying powers ([link removed]) . Short-term reauthorization of FISA Section 702 warrantless surveillance powers threatens journalists ([link removed]) , activists and other Americans. FPF joined more than 25 other civil society organizations urging Sen. Chuck Schumer not to allow it ([link removed]) .
** FPF Live: Bad Press
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Join us for a screening of the documentary film “Bad Press ([link removed]) ,” 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’s New York theatrical premiere ([link removed]) is at Manhattan’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 ([link removed]) .
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