As student protests return, colleges must protect press freedom
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Police disperse both protesters and journalists at a demonstration during the Democratic National Convention on Aug. 19, 2024, in Chicago. AP Photo/Noah Berger
** Police ignore warnings about press freedom at DNC protests
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The First Amendment prohibits police from dispersing law-abiding journalists covering protests, even in circumstances where lawbreaking protesters can be dispersed. Everyone from the Department of Justice ([link removed]) to federal appellate courts ([link removed]) agrees on that.
Nonetheless, the Chicago Police Department repeatedly dispersed, arrested, and threatened journalists at protests during the first two days of the Democratic National Convention.
As we explain on our website ([link removed]) , Chicago police ignored numerous warnings to respect journalists’ rights and even declined training on the issue, claiming they didn’t need it. Those responsible need to be held accountable.
As protests return to campus, schools must do better on press freedom
Campus demonstrations in the spring resulted in unwarranted and unnecessary arrests, assaults, and abuses ([link removed]) of both student and professional journalists after college administrations deployed local and campus police ([link removed]) to dampen ([link removed]) student activism.
Four months later, the Israel-Gaza war is still ongoing, and the protests are likely to return. As students make their way back to campus for the 2024-25 academic year, Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) authored letters to universities around the country, outlining the constitutional framework that protects the press and providing guidelines for university leaders and law enforcement to follow so journalists can cover protests freely and safely.
Read more on our website ([link removed]) .
Why is Chicago removing newsracks for the DNC?
A few short months ago, a couple of college kids at Northwestern University placed parody flyers with obviously fake Daily Northwestern front pages on stacks of student newspapers around campus. Prosecutors in Cook County, Illinois, responded by digging up a rarely used ([link removed]) statute criminalizing “theft of advertising services ([link removed]) ” and charging the students.
That’s why it was surprising to read in the Chicago Reader’s newsletter ([link removed]) that, in anticipation of the Democratic National Convention, the city of Chicago instructed a vendor to remove at least 83 newsracks from downtown Chicago, without notifying the Reader or, presumably, other impacted news outlets. City officials may view newsracks as eyesores ([link removed]) but they distribute free newspapers that residents, particularly ([link removed]) in marginalized communities, rely on.
Read more on our website ([link removed]) .
What we’re reading
Want a dedicated chair and an electrical outlet? For journalists at the DNC, the price starts at $751 ([link removed]) (WBEZ Chicago). It’s a shame that a party that claims to support press freedom uses the newsworthiness of its convention as a price-gouging opportunity (meanwhile, social media influencers get the red-carpet treatment). WBEZ reports that a similar setup at the Republican National Convention cost $100.
U.S. investigating Americans who worked with Russian state television ([link removed]) (New York Times). “The government’s investigation is politically fraught. … By targeting Americans working with news organizations, even if they are state-run, the inquiry could also bump up against the First Amendment’s protection of rights to free speech.”
Meta kills off misinformation tracking tool CrowdTangle despite pleas from researchers, journalists ([link removed]) (Associated Press). Meta is killing CrowdTangle, a tool used for years by journalists to track and fight misinformation online. By shutting it down amid global unrest and an upcoming presidential election, the tech giant is undermining its transparency efforts.
KBI history offers ample reasons for Kansans to scrutinize Marion raid investigation ([link removed]) (Kansas Reflector). “The Kansas Bureau of Investigation misled the public in two of its most high-profile cases, with the truth emerging only decades after those cases were closed. That history should reinforce skepticism ([link removed]) of special prosecutors’ interpretation of KBI files ([link removed]) in the raid on the Marion County Record newspaper.”
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