North Carolina journalists to be tried for newsgathering

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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]) .
TAYMAZ VALLEY. The death of Mahsa Amini has led to worldwide protests but journalists covering the unrest in her homeland of Iran have been imprisoned in record numbers.

The Committee to Protect Journalists reports a record number ([link removed]) of journalists in prison worldwide as of Dec. 1, 2022. Iran is the worst offender, accounting for 62 of the 363 imprisoned journalists, with numbers spiking due to the recent uprisings there.

The United States, fortunately, did not make the list (journalists arrested here ([link removed]) have been released). Nonetheless, we wrote that America’s ongoing prosecution of Julian Assange, and its weak responses to the killings of journalists like Jamal Khashoggi and Shireen Abu Akleh, send a message to regimes abroad that we don’t take press freedom seriously. Read more here ([link removed]) .


** North Carolina journalists’ trial date approaches
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Two Asheville Blade reporters are scheduled to stand trial on trespassing charges on Jan. 25. They were attempting to document police evicting homeless people from an encampment at a public park when they were arrested in 2021. There is no claim that they harmed or endangered anyone.

As we previously wrote ([link removed]) , “First Amendment freedoms are especially crucial when the press documents interactions between society’s most powerful figures (police officers) and its least powerful (unhoused individuals).” Authorities should drop the charges immediately. Should any of our readers (especially North Carolina residents) want to encourage them to do so, contact information for the District Attorney’s office can be found here ([link removed]) .


** Charges against Jan. 6 rioters who assaulted journalists
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The two year anniversary of the insurrection is tomorrow and FPF’s U.S. Press Freedom Tracker continues to document ([link removed]) new developments involving rioters who harmed journalists or their equipment.
This includes the sentencing in October of Alan William Byerly for, among other things, assaulting photographer John Minchillo, making Byerly the first J6 rioter sentenced for assaulting a journalist. According to the Tracker, at least 18 journalists were assaulted during the riots and tens of thousands of dollars of news equipment was damaged.


** Union asks appellate court to protect communications with journalists
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Starbucks union representatives are petitioning an appellate court ([link removed]) to block an order that would require them to turn over, among other things, all records of conversations with the media about unionizing stores in Buffalo. The sweeping order ([link removed]) enables a classic “fishing expedition” because Starbucks can only speculate that there may be some unspecified kind of admissible evidence in the records.
The petition is based primarily on arguments that the discovery requests violated federal labor laws which prohibit retaliation for discussing working conditions. Media outlets can and should file briefs in the case to further emphasize First Amendment protections for newsgathering. The appellate circuit that will consider the petition has recognized ([link removed]) that reporter’s privileges can apply regardless of whether the reporter or a source is ordered to disclose privileged records.

— Seth Stern, Director of Advocacy


** What we’re reading
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Congress should keep trying on federal shield law ([link removed]) . The Las Vegas Review-Journal’s editorial board encouraged Congress to continue efforts to pass the PRESS Act and stop federal surveillance of reporters in 2023. As we previously explained ([link removed]) , one fringe senator’s nonsensical objection cannot be permitted to kill the best shield bill we’ve ever seen. We intend to continue advocating for its passage for as long as it takes.

‘Collaboration is Protection’: Journalists Talk About Investigating Pegasus Spyware ([link removed]) . Frontline is also airing a two-part documentary ([link removed].) on the “Pegasus Project,” the 2021 investigation that revealed that governments around the world used Pegasus spyware against journalists, activists and others. Frontline also published an interview ([link removed]) with two journalists involved in both the investigation and the documentary. Relatedly, the Knight First Amendment Institute sued NSO Group ([link removed].) , which
developed Pegasus, under U.S. computer fraud laws in late 2022.
Guardian offices closed until 23 January due to ongoing fallout from suspected ransomware attack ([link removed]) . Guardian staff in the U.S., UK and Australia have been told to work from home for several more weeks as a result of the suspected attack on Dec. 20. The attack, so far, has not impacted print or digital publication. FPF offers a wide variety of digital security training ([link removed]) programs for media outlets and journalists.
Donate to support our work ([link removed])
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