The GOP’s press freedom problem is bigger than Trump
View this email in your browser ([link removed])
Dear friend of press freedom,
If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please consider supporting our work through a donation. A few generous supporters have pledged to match donations, dollar-for-dollar, up to $150,000, to help your gift to ([link removed]) Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) go even further. Donate today ([link removed]) through Dec. 31 and double your impact! If someone has forwarded you this newsletter, please subscribe here ([link removed]) .
Marion County Record publisher Eric Meyer (pictured above) and independent journalist Tim Burke joined us to discuss the state of press freedom in the U.S. after the law enforcement raids of their respective newsrooms.
** Victims of newsroom raids tell their stories
------------------------------------------------------------
Newsroom raids are often associated with a bygone era, but there have been at least two in the U.S. this year: the police raid of the Marion County Record ([link removed]) and publisher Eric Meyer’s home ([link removed]) in Kansas and the FBI raid of the home newsroom of journalist Tim Burke ([link removed]) in Florida.
This week FPF hosted a conversation with Meyer and Burke. Watch the recording ([link removed]) to hear them discuss the impact of the raids on their reporting, why some press freedom violations get national attention and others don’t, and how law enforcement officials are using computer crime laws to go after journalists.
The GOP’s press freedom problem is bigger than Trump
There’s been plenty of concern expressed in recent weeks about Donald Trump’s threats to “come after ([link removed]) ” the press in a potential second term. We certainly share those concerns.
But the Republican party is not waiting for Trump’s return to start weaponizing the law against journalism. For example, 14 state attorneys general ([link removed]) and 15 members of Congress ([link removed]) are calling for news outlets to be investigated for “material support” of terrorism by working with Palestinian freelance photojournalists. The attorneys general are arguably even threatening criminal charges against the outlets for criticizing Israel. It all arises from a November report based on evidence-free speculation — and that’s according to ([link removed]) its own authors.
Those are only a couple of the recent threats by Republican politicians to investigate, prosecute, defund, or otherwise censor journalists they don’t like. Read more here ([link removed]) .
Politicians continue to retaliate against the press using public notices
We wrote in September ([link removed]) about the alarming trend of government officials using contracts to print official notices — an important source of revenue for many news outlets — as a carrot or stick to control news coverage. Several more disturbing examples have since come to light.
Read more here ([link removed]) about this problem and what Congress and local lawmakers should do about it. Because public notices are an important source of revenue for local newspapers serving small communities, one important response would be shoring up funding for local news, including by passing the Community News and Small Business Support Act ([link removed]) .
Florida lawmaker renews attack on the free press
Earlier this year Florida lawmaker Alex Andrade, backed by governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, introduced ([link removed]) an awful bill to rewrite defamation law to help the wealthy and powerful weaponize the court system against their critics. Among many other problematic provisions, the bill made it easier to sue journalists who rely on anonymous sources – often whistleblowers who come forward at great personal risk.
That bill failed after pushback from press freedom advocates and media outlets, including conservative ([link removed]) ones. But Andrade is back with a new, scaled-back version of the bill. It omits some of the worst proposals from the prior one, but this time anonymous sourcing is front and center. Read more here ([link removed]) about the new bill and why, despite Andrade’s concessions, it remains dangerous to let censorious legislators get a foot in the door.
** What we’re reading
------------------------------------------------------------
63 journalists killed in as many days: Silence from newsrooms is deafening ([link removed]) . We often write about ([link removed]) journalists’ unfortunate reluctance to speak out when their rights are violated. The need couldn’t be more urgent ([link removed]) than when journalists are being killed at an alarming rate ([link removed]) in the Israel-Gaza war and even being intentionally targeted, according to several investigations ([link removed]) .
RFE/RL's Kurmasheva Faces New Russian Charge, To Remain In Custody ([link removed]) . RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva, already in Russian custody on a sham charge of violating Russia’s “foreign agents” law, now faces up to 10 more years in prison for writing critically about the war in Ukraine. Prosecuting an American journalist for her reporting is a significant escalation by Russia. The Biden administration should do everything ([link removed]) it can to win Kurmasheva’s freedom.
The troubled history of the Espionage Act ([link removed]) . “There’s been plenty of discussion about whether [Julian] Assange is really a journalist, but the Espionage Act doesn’t care either way—there is no journalist-exception clause,” writes Amy Davidson Sorkin ([link removed]) , in the New Yorker. We couldn’t agree more ([link removed]) .
The US government should tell the public what it knows about UFOs ([link removed]) . “It doesn’t matter the topic, there always seems to be a group of lawmakers who will stop at nothing to thwart government transparency – even when it’s a subject that could not be more bipartisan or in an obvious need for sunlight,” our executive director, Trevor Timm, writes in the Guardian.
Filmmaker arrested at ‘Cop City’ protest, sues Atlanta and police ([link removed]) . Documentary filmmaker Lev Omelchenko sued the City of Atlanta and police officers this September, two years after his 2021 arrest while covering a protest over a public safety training center for the Atlanta Police Department commonly known as Cop City. Journalist arrests are one of several press freedom concerns ([link removed]) arising from the Cop City protest movement.
[link removed]
[link removed]
[link removed]
============================================================
Copyright © 2023 Freedom of the Press Foundation, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you opted in via our website.
Our mailing address is:
Freedom of the Press Foundation
49 Flatbush Ave, #1017
Brooklyn, NY 11217
USA
Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can ** update your preferences ([link removed])
or ** unsubscribe from this list ([link removed])
.
