Snowden anniversary a reminder of the need to protect whistleblowers and journalists
AP Photo/George Brich
Whistleblowers are essential to a free and unfettered press.
Whistleblowers play a critical role in informing the public and holding the government to account.
Sources who act out of conscience to leak information to the press further our democracy. Whistleblowers like Daniel Ellsberg, Chelsea Manning, and Edward Snowden, have exposed some of our government’s gravest abuses.
Unfortunately, whistleblowers are often prosecuted and jailed. That’s wrong. Whistleblowers and the journalists they work with should be celebrated, not punished.
Featured Items
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Coalition of Twenty Major Media Organizations Ask Manning Judge To Provide Court Access to Public Stenographer
UPDATE: We've recieved word that the judge has ruled that the professional court stenographer CAN transcribe the trial from the media room using a stenography machine. This is great news. However, we are still without press passes, and the military media desk has yet to respond to our request to …
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Crowd-funded Stenographers Denied Press Passes to the Bradley Manning Court Martial
About a month ago, Freedom of the Press Foundation launched a campaign to crowd-fund a court stenographer to provide transcripts of the unclassified portions of the Bradley Manning court martial, given that the military refuses to release transcripts of their own. On Thursday, we learned that all three of our …
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Virtually Everything the Government Did to WikiLeaks is Now Being Done to Mainstream US Reporters
At Freedom of the Press Foundation, we believe it’s vital to defend WikiLeaks’ right to gather and publish classified information in the public interest, just as it’s vital to protect the rights of Associated Press and Fox News to do the same. Under the law, the AP, Fox News, and …
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A Conspiracy To Commit Journalism: The Justice Dept's Dangerous New Argument Threatens Basic Reporting
Last night, the Washington Post reported on a little known leak case involving former State Department official Stephen Kim. In an alarming new extreme, the Justice Department and FBI argue there's "probable cause to believe" Fox News reporter James Rosen "has committed or is committing a violation of [the Espionage …
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Nation’s Leading Journalists: Leak Investigations Chilling Our Reporting, Hurting Public’s Right-To-Know
This morning on CBS Face the Nation, President and CEO of the Associated Press Gary Pruitt called the Justice Department’s seizure of AP’s call records “unconstitutional” and said it has already had a chilling effect on newsgathering. The chilling effect may end up being the lasting effect of this scandal: …
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Wanted: Two Court Stenographers for the Bradley Manning Trial
Dates: approximately June 3, 2013 until approximately September 23, 2013 (subject to change) The Freedom of the Press Foundation is seeking two court reporters who can provide dedicated, daily coverage of the Bradley Manning court martial in Fort Meade Maryland. The position will require individuals to travel to the military …
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New Yorker Launches New Whistleblower Submission System, With Code Written by the Late Aaron Swartz
In an important announcement, the New Yorker has launched ‘Strongbox,’ a whistleblower submission system that aims to allow for anonymous leakers to digitally hand off important information to journalists. The underlying code, called 'Dead-Drop,' is an open-source project and was written by Internet pioneer and legendary coder Aaron Swartz, before …
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Justice Department Investigation of AP Part of Larger Pattern to Intimidate Sources and Reporters
As part of a new leak investigation, the Justice Department has secretly obtained the call records for twenty phone lines owned by the Assocated Press (AP), which could put sources for as many as one hundred reporters at risk. The AP called the move a "massive and unprecedented intrusion," saying …
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Freedom of the Press Foundation Crowd-Funding A Court Reporter To Transcribe Bradley Manning’s Trial
Campaign will support a professional stenographer to produce transcripts and provide them to the public and press For immediate release San Francisco, CA – May 9, 2013 – Freedom of the Press Foundation is proud to announce a new fundraising campaign to hire a professional court stenographer to produce transcripts …
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New Book Compares the Pentagon Papers to WikiLeaks, Calls for Obama to End Crackdown on Whistleblowers
This week, James Goodale, former general counsel of the New York Times, is out with a new book called “Fighting for the Press,” which chronicles his role in convincing the New York Times to publish the Pentagon Papers, and then convincing the Supreme Court the Times was protected by …
