Current Events
April 5, 2020 | Freedom of the Press
Journalists threatened and detained as countries on multiple continents restrict coronavirus coverage
When a flu-like virus tore through the world, killing tens of millions and infecting far more, the papers in Europe told readers of "Spanish flu." King Alfonso XIII of Spain was one of many stricken, they reported in 1918. What they didn't say was that their own populations were being decimated, too.
It was the largest pandemic in modern history, but due to wartime censorship in many European countries, few citizens would know it at first. Only Spain, a nation neutral in the fight, allowed its press to work largely uncensored, and so it was that stories of the contagion spread too...
March 25, 2020 | Freedom of the Press
COVID-19 is spawning a global press-freedom crackdown
IN HIS REMARKS TO THE MEDIA and the public, World Health Organization director general Tedros Adhanom has regularly emphasized that accurate, timely information is essential to fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. Yet around the world, governments are cracking down on journalists and implementing sweeping restrictions under the guise of combating misinformation and “fake news.”...
March 2, 2020 | Freedom of the Press
These Are the 10 ‘Most Urgent’ Threats to Press Freedom in March 2020
When Chinese authorities announced a lockdown on the central Chinese city of Wuhan in late January in an attempt to halt the spread of a deadly virus, millions of people fled the city, eager to escape before the enforced quarantine began...
February 26, 2020 | Freedom of the Press
AG William Barr laments ‘massively consolidated’ mainstream press; claims journalists now ‘less objective’
Attorney General William Barr, the focus of intense public scrutiny for revising a stiff sentencing recommendation for longtime GOP operative Roger Stone, took aim at the press Wednesday lamenting a "massively consolidated" media landscape in which journalists are increasingly abandoning objectivity.
In a speech before the National Religious Broadcasters Convention, the attorney general referred to the press as "remarkably monolithic in viewpoint," adding that journalists "see themselves less as objective reporters of the facts and more as agents of change."...
February 21, 2020 | Freedom of the Press
Assange’s fate hangs in balance as UK court considers U.S. extradition bid
LONDON (Reuters) - Almost a decade after his WikiLeaks website enraged Washington by leaking secret U.S. documents, a London court will begin hearings on Monday to decide whether Julian Assange should be extradited to the United States...
February 12, 2020 | Freedom of the Press
‘He would arrest us tomorrow’: Joe Scarborough says Trump would strip freedom of press if he could
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough claimed President Trump would send in the authorities to haul him and other journalists away in handcuffs if he could.
On Wednesday morning, Trump congratulated Attorney General William Barr for announcing that the Justice Department would seek a more lenient sentence for the president’s longtime associate Roger Stone. During his show on Wednesday, Scarborough criticized Trump and Barr and questioned whether Sen. Susan Collins still believed that Trump “learned his lesson” after being impeached in the House...
January 15, 2020 | Freedom of the Press
Iowa Legislature again denies access to political blogger despite protests
IOWA CITY — The Republican-controlled Iowa Legislature has again denied press access to a liberal journalist whose blog is often critical of its policies, despite warnings from state and national groups that the restriction appears to be unconstitutional.
The Iowa House and the Iowa Senate informed Laura Belin, who operates the Bleeding Heartland blog, that her applications for access during the session that began Monday were rejected...
January 6, 2020 | Freedom of the Press
The Washington Post Press Freedom Partnership expands to include International Press Institute and National Press Club
The Washington Post today announced the addition of the International Press Institute and the National Press Club to its Press Freedom Partnership. IPI and NPC join a global group of partner organizations including Committee to Protect Journalists, International Women’s Media Foundation, James W. Foley Legacy Foundation, One Free Press Coalition, Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press and Reporters Without Borders...
December 12, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Chris Wallace: Trump Engaged In “Most Direct, Sustained Assault On Freedom Of The Press In Our History”
Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace told a crowd at the Newseum that President Donald Trump “is engaged in the most direct, sustained assault on freedom of the press in our history.”
“The president’s attacks have done some damage,” Wallace said, noting a Freedom Forum Insitute poll that shows that 29% of Americans think the First Amendment goes “too far” and 77% think that “fake news” is a “serious threat to our democracy.”...
November 18, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Sweden Rejects Chinese Criticism of Press Freedom Prize
Sweden’s culture minister on Nov. 16 awarded the annual Tucholsky literary prize to a Chinese author despite a threat from the Chinese ambassador to ban her from entering the country.
Author Gui Minhai, a naturalized Swede and co-owner of a Hong Kong store that sold books critical of Chinese leaders, was detained by police in eastern China in 2018 while in the company of two Swedish diplomats with whom he was traveling to Beijing...
October 21, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Australian newspapers black out front pages as media unites to defend press freedom
New York (CNN Business) The biggest news outlets in Australia, normally fierce rivals, are uniting in support of press freedom with a campaign including blacked-out newspaper front pages and slots on prime time broadcasts.
The newspapers and networks are trying to "to highlight the constraints on media organizations under strict national security legislation," Australia's ABC network reported...
September 16, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Lawyers say leaks prosecution violates freedom of the press
ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Lawyers for a former intelligence analyst charged with leaking classified documents about military campaigns to a reporter say the case should be dismissed because the law is being used to suppress freedom of the press.
Daniel Hale of Nashville, Tennessee, is charged in federal court in Alexandria under the World War I-era Espionage Act. That law makes it a crime to disclose national defense information to those not entitled to receive it...
September 3, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Judge tells White House to reinstate reporter’s pass
A judge has blocked the White House’s decision to revoke the press pass of Playboy correspondent Brian Karem over a Rose Garden showdown in July with former White House aide Sebastian Gorka.
U.S. District Court Judge Rudolph Contreras issued a decision Tuesday evening granting a preliminary injunction restoring Karem’s so-called “hard pass” on the grounds that the reporter had no clear notice of the rules governing press behavior at events like the presidential appearance that preceded the heated exchange...
August 21, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Sheriff in conservative Malheur County defends free press
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — Journalists are defending a small Eastern Oregon newspaper after a county attorney asked the sheriff to investigate whether a reporter broke the law by trying repeatedly to get comments from an official for a story...
August 7, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Conservative think tank sues Wisconsin’s Evers over access
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A conservative think tank has filed a federal lawsuit against Democratic Wisconsin Gov. Tony Evers, alleging he violated the First Amendment rights of staff members who were denied access to a press briefing and kept off an advisory list sent to other reporters.
The MacIver Institute for Public Policy filed the lawsuit Tuesday in Madison alleging that Evers violated its staffers’ constitutional rights to free speech, freedom of the press and equal access...
August 1, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
UK, Canada defend U.S. media freedom
ATLANTA — Great Britain and Canada are on the front lines, defending media freedom around the world.
But high-profile journalists and academics here say they are not just worried about oppressive governments and rogue regimes. They are concerned with peril much closer to home...
July 10, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Saudis vexed at low ranking on press freedom index after Khashoggi murder
Officials in Saudi Arabia privately complained about the kingdom’s low ranking on an influential press freedom index, less than one year after the murder of the journalist Jamal Khashoggi by a Saudi murder squad...
July 2, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Press freedom summit urges Mexico to reform journalist protections
On June 18, more than 400 people converged in Mexico City for CPJ's Mexico Press Freedom Summit. Energized by a sense that the country is at a point of profound political change under the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, the conference delved into the threats for Mexican journalists...
June 26, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Australia media demand press freedom law reforms after raids
CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s three largest media organizations joined forces on Wednesday to demand legal reforms that would prevent journalists from risking imprisonment for doing their jobs. The demands came after unprecedented raids against media organizations by police searching for leaked documents that some say were deeply embarrassing to the government...
June 19, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
New York Times CEO Mark Thompson calls Trump’s attacks on the press ‘stupid’ and ‘dangerous’
New York Times CEO Mark Thompson on Wednesday called President Donald Trump’s attacks on journalists “hostile,” “stupid” and “dangerous.”Thompson’s comments at the CNBC Evolve forum Wednesday in New York came the day after Trump launched his 2020 reelection campaign at a raucous Orlando, Florida, rally in which he targeted the news media...
June 5, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Watchdog Finds Global Press Freedom at Lowest Point in Decade
NEW YORK — The U.S.-based democracy watchdog Freedom House says press freedom is declining around the world, right alongside political rights and civil liberties.In its annual report released Wednesday, the nongovernmental group says global press freedom fell to its lowest point in more than a decade due to continued crackdowns on independent media in authoritarian states and unprecedented threats to journalists in traditionally free societies...
May 27, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
How the indictment of Julian Assange could criminalize investigative journalism
For decades, the American press has reported damning government secrets, shined a spotlight on abuse and held accountable the nation’s highest leaders. It has done these things under the protection of the First Amendment and a firm belief that Americans deserve to know the truth...
May 14, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
SFPD in cross hairs of press freedom fight after raid on journalist’s home
SAN FRANCISCO (KTVU) - A showdown over press freedom and police power is escalating in San Francisco after police raided a journalist’s home and office in trying to ferret out the identity of one of his sources.Freelance videographer Bryan Carmody obtained a police report detailing the circumstances surrounding the death of the city’s well-known public defender, Jeff Adachi, back in February. He then sold information and video of the scene to multiple news agencies including KTVU, which regularly pays freelancers a fee for information and video...
May 6, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Myanmar frees 2 imprisoned Reuters reporters
RANGON, Myanmar — Two Reuters journalists who were imprisoned for breaking Myanmar’s Official Secrets Act over reporting on security forces’ abuses of Rohingya Muslims were pardoned and released Tuesday, the prison chief and witnesses said.Wa Lone and Kyaw Soe Oo were freed after President Win Myint issued a blanket pardon for 6,520 prisoners, said Zaw Zaw, chief of Yangon’s Insein Prison...
April 18, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
The U.S. Now Ranks As A ‘Problematic’ Place For Journalists
The United States has become a less safe place for journalists, and the threats they face are becoming the standard, according to a new report by an international press freedom organization.Reporters Sans Frontières, or Reporters Without Borders, dropped the U.S. to No. 48 out of 180 on its annual World Press Freedom Index, three notches lower than its place last year. The move downgrades the country from a "satisfactory" place to work freely to a "problematic" one for journalists...
April 12, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
The debate over what Julian Assange’s arrest means for freedom of the press, explained
Is the arrest of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange justice against a man who broke the law, or is it a warning shot that journalism is under threat in the United States?It’s a difficult question to answer, in part because it brings up a host of other related questions: Do you consider WikiLeaks a journalistic organization or not? Did Assange actively participate in criminal activity to obtain classified intel, as the US government alleges, or did he just disseminate information passed on to him and is therefore protected by the First Amendment? Does it matter that Assange and his organization seem to have developed at the very least an affinity to Russia? And is the single charge he faces in the United States the total of the government’s push for justice — or is it just the opening salvo in what will become a larger war to punish Assange (and anyone else who publishes classified information)?...
April 1, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Maryland to honor Capital Gazette victims with ‘Freedom of the Press Day’
ANNAPOLIS, Md. – To honor the five victims who lost their lives at the Capital Gazette, the Maryland General Assembly is naming June 28th ‘Freedom of the Press Day’. Both sides of the legislature voted unanimously to name the day in honor of the slain journalists. The five employees were killed on June 28th when alleged gunman Jarrod Ramos entered the newsroom and opened fire. Lawmakers say the movement is critical to let people know that freedom of the press is important...
March 19, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Concern raised over SKorean treatment of Bloomberg reporter
SEOUL, South Korea — International journalists’ organizations are criticizing the status of press freedom in South Korea after the country’s ruling party singled out a Bloomberg reporter with South Korean nationality over what it claimed was a “borderline traitorous” article insulting President Moon Jae-in, resulting in threats to the reporter’s safety.
February 22, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
An Arizona officer threatened to arrest a 12-year-old journalist. She wasn’t backing down.
When a small-town Arizona officer stopped a 12-year-old reporter who was chasing down a story tip on Monday, he probably had no idea what he was getting himself into...
February 19, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Justice Clarence Thomas criticizes landmark Supreme Court press freedom ruling
WASHINGTON — Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas criticized a landmark press freedom case on Tuesday, calling for a new look at the rule that public figures cannot successfully sue for libel unless they can demonstrate that a statement was made with actual malice.
The court ruled in the 1964 case of New York Times v. Sullivan that a public figure must prove a defamatory statement was made "with knowledge that it was false or with reckless disregard of whether it was false or not." The case was brought by a county official in Alabama who claimed he was defamed by an advertisement in the paper criticizing police response to the civil rights movement...
February 13, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Press freedom “fragile” in Europe, says new report
Press freedom in Europe is “more fragile now” than at any time since the end of the Cold War, with journalists in Europe facing increased hostility and violence, according to a new report published on Wednesday...
February 7, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
CNN’s Jim Acosta Visits UVA to Discuss Freedom of the Press and Politics
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - The future of politics and the press was under examination at the University of Virginia Thursday evening.
CNN's chief White House correspondent Jim Acosta, whose confrontations with President Trump have gone viral and led him to be temporarily banned from the White House, spoke with community members about the state of the press during the current administration...
February 3, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Washington Post airs Super Bowl ad honoring journalists, press freedom
The Washington Post on Sunday aired its first Super Bowl advertisement, a one-minute long compilation of historic images and clips meant to signify the role of journalists.
The ad, which was narrated by actor Tom Hanks, aired during the fourth quarter of the contest between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams...
January 29, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
‘Bullying journalists is not Presidential’: Fox News anchor berates Trump for tweets
WASHINGTON – After President Donald Trump leveled a rare Twitter attack against Fox News – a network he normally praises for its favorable coverage of him – one of the conservative channel's anchors lambasted the president for "bullying journalists."...
January 10, 2019 | Freedom of the Press
Lawmakers mark 100 days since Khashoggi’s death with press freedom event
Lawmakers gathered Thursday to mark 100 days since the disappearance of slain Saudi dissident journalist Jamal Khashoggi and underscore the important of the freedom of the press.
Democrats and Republicans delivered remarks at a press freedom event at the Capitol, decrying Khashoggi's murder and calling for accountability. Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) called the journalist's killing "an atrocity and an affront to humanity."...
November 18, 2018 | Freedom of the Press
Merkley resolution urges Senate to stand up for freedom of press
Sen. Jeff Merkley, D-Ore., introduced a strongly worded resolution Thursday calling for the Senate to stand up for freedom of the press in America and around the world...
November 16, 2018 | Freedom of the Press
Julian Assange charge raises fears about press freedom
The disclosure that federal prosecutors have brought an unidentified criminal charge against Julian Assange…
November 16, 2018 | Freedom of the Press
Judge orders White House to return Jim Acosta’s press pass
CNN's Jim Acosta has returned to his post at the White House following a court ruling that forced the Trump administration to reinstate his press pass…
November 15, 2018 | Freedom of the Press
Kill newspaper’s free speech lawsuit against us, Middletown officials ask U.S. judge
Middletown officials are urging a federal judge to dismiss a freedom of speech lawsuit filed against them by the Press & Journal newspaper...
November 14, 2018 | Freedom of the Press
Trump v CNN: lawsuit becomes test case on press freedom
Donald Trump and several of his top aides were accused of violating…
October 23, 2018 | Freedom of the Press
Pence vows US response to Khashoggi death: Those responsible will be held accountable
Vice President Pence on Tuesday vowed the U.S. would respond to the "brutal murder" of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi, calling it an "assault on a free and independent press."