Freedom of the Press Foundation pushes for C-SPAN to control its own cameras

View this email in your browser ([link removed])
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]) .
Courtesy of Veronica Coit/Asheville Blade. Two Asheville journalists arrested while covering an eviction of a homeless encampment are set to stand trial next week.

While other cities publicly apologize ([link removed]) to reporters detained for trespassing, authorities in Asheville, North Carolina, still plan to put two journalists on trial next week. They’re accused of nothing other than taking pictures of a homeless encampment sweep at a public park.

We wrote an op-ed ([link removed]) in the Asheville Citizen Times calling for the district attorney to drop the charges immediately. We questioned why the Asheville police are singling out journalists — and specifically, journalists who have been critical of their conduct in the past — for arrest for curfew violations.

We explained that “no decent journalist would ignore newsworthy official conduct, in plain sight and on public land, just because it’s dark out. And no government that values transparency would expect journalists to do so. The news does not keep regular business hours.”

Hopefully authorities will come to their senses in the coming days but even then, they shouldn’t be let off the hook for the harm already done. The journalists have had to wait well over a year to find out whether they’ll serve time for taking pictures. They should sue.


** FPF leads coalition calling for House to let C-SPAN control cameras
------------------------------------------------------------

C-SPAN watchers got a rare, up-close look at House proceedings during the speakership negotiations earlier this month. Then, once Kevin McCarthy was elected speaker, it was back to normal: wide shots trained at the speaker’s dais and podium.

That’s because the longstanding practice has been for the party controlling the House to also control the cameras, and both parties have chosen not to allow C-SPAN to go beyond the robotic cameras that capture the lame footage to which we’re accustomed.

We think the press and public are entitled to the best possible footage of their representatives in action. That’s why Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), along with Demand Progress Education Fund, led a coalition of over 40 like-minded organizations in urging House leadership to restore C-SPAN’s control over the House cameras. Read the letter ([link removed]) on our blog.


** Pass the PRESS Act so Trump can’t jail journalists
------------------------------------------------------------

FPF’s executive director, Trevor Timm, talked to The Independent ([link removed]) about Donald Trump’s latest call to jail journalists who won’t burn their sources.

Trevor explained that “Trump’s statement isn’t exactly surprising, given he’s been saying similar things on the campaign trail, but it is appalling … No president should be allowed to threaten reporters with jail in order to reveal their sources.”

Although the Department of Justice adopted policies last year restricting prosecutors from compelling journalists to testify, future administrations can repeal those policies, and a future Trump administration almost certainly would.

Trevor called on Congress to pass the PRESS Act ([link removed]) , a “strong shield law protecting journalists from surveillance or compelled disclosure of source materials except in emergency situations,” so that no president can follow through on Trump’s threats.

— Seth Stern, Director of Advocacy


** What we’re reading
------------------------------------------------------------

Texas judge vacates order limiting murder trial coverage ([link removed]) . A judge in Waco, Texas, issued a broad and egregiously unconstitutional gag order earlier this month restricting media coverage ahead of a murder trial. He quickly vacated the order after a local broadcaster intervened to point out its obvious unlawfulness. That’s good news, but the order should never have been issued in the first place. It should go without saying that judges need to have a basic understanding of the First Amendment to do their jobs. They should also know the Supreme Court has ([link removed]) repeatedly cited academic research finding that the threats arising from pretrial publicity are vastly overstated.

A sheriff in Louisiana has been destroying records of deputies’ alleged misconduct for years ([link removed]) . A lawsuit by the family of a teenager who died in custody revealed that a Louisiana sheriff not only destroyed records relating to that case but has routinely destroyed disciplinary records for at least a decade. The same sheriff’s office is reportedly facing lawsuits alleging excessive force, racial discrimination and wrongful death. We commend ProPublica for exposing these abuses and hope all involved in violating the Constitution and the law face real consequences.
Hold The Line Coalition welcomes acquittal of Maria Ressa and Rappler, calls for all remaining cases to be closed ([link removed]) . Award-winning journalist Maria Ressa has been acquitted in four of the Philippine government’s numerous cases against her. The Committee to Protect Journalists notes that these tax evasion charges were part of a history of prosecutions “meant to debilitate the news organization and Ressa, as well as making investors in the media sector wary of the ramifications of supporting independent local news outlets.”

Trial date set in reporter's lawsuit against City of Medford ([link removed]) . While North Carolina authorities prepare to put reporters on trial, another reporter who was arrested for covering ([link removed]) an encampment sweep, April Ehrlich, has turned the tables. Ehrlich’s lawsuit against the City of Medford, Oregon, is set for trial in November. Prosecutors dropped charges against Ehrlich — accused of defying orders to report from an unconstitutional media staging area — shortly before her criminal trial was set to begin last year.
Donate to support our work ([link removed])
[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])
.