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Final push for bipartisan PRESS Act

Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Advocacy Director Seth Stern, Axios journalist Sara Fischer, and former Fox and CBS journalist Catherine Herridge joined National Public Radio’s 1A this week to discuss the urgent need for the Senate to finally pass the PRESS Act and protect journalist-source confidentiality.

As Stern explained, the PRESS Act is bipartisan, common-sense legislation. “A subpoena is a subpoena. A contempt finding is a contempt finding, and jail is jail,” he said. “And whether it’s Donald Trump, Barack Obama, or somebody else who is coming after a journalist, the repercussions are the same.” Listen to the full episode here.

This week, Stern also wrote about an alarming court hearing in Herridge’s appeal of an order requiring her to name her confidential sources. Herridge appeared on System Update with Glenn Greenwald to discuss the need for the PRESS Act and her legal battle to protect her sources. Read Stern’s full op-ed, and watch Herridge’s interview with Greenwald here.

Classification is broken. Biden can still help fix it

Decade-long delays for declassification. Overclassification, even of publicly available records. Agencies refusing to exchange important information because of their excessive security rules. 

These are just a few of the well-known failures of our current classification system.

Now, Sens. Ron Wyden and Jerry Moran are calling on President Joe Biden to issue a new executive order that could help fix the government’s bloated and outdated classification system before time runs out. He should — and soon. Read more on our website.

Good news for reporters arrested for covering protests

These days some might assume the fight for press freedom is limited to playing defense and holding the line. Not so — we’ve got progress to report. 

Prosecutors have dropped charges against three journalists, Isaac White, Olga Fedorova, and Josh Pacheco, who were arrested for covering protests.

Unfortunately, there are still plenty of cases pending against other journalists who were just doing their constitutionally protected jobs. Read more on our website. 

Not in Kansas anymore: Alabama lawsuit echoes earlier anti-press attack

Last year, Atmore News reporter Don Fletcher and publisher Sherry Digmon were arrested on sham charges for allegedly revealing grand jury secrets. The charges were later dropped after the local district attorney, Stephen Billy, admitted to personal and professional conflicts of interest.

A new federal lawsuit brought by Fletcher and Digmon against Billy and his “allies” reveals startling similarities between their arrests and the raid on the Marion County Record last year. On the surface, both cases at first appeared to involve a few law enforcement officials abusing their power. A little digging reveals politically motivated multiparty schemes.

Read our article comparing the two cases — and highlighting the crucial need for accountability in Kansas and Alabama.

Our Bluesky starter pack for press freedom organizations, advocates

FPF Deputy Director of Audience Ahmed Zidan put together a new starter pack for press freedom organizations, advocates, and allies active on Bluesky. Check it out and jump-start your press freedom follows on Bluesky. While you’re at it, why not follow FPF on Bluesky, too?

What we’re reading

Bipartisan federal anti-SLAPP legislation reintroduced and improved (Forbes). A new bipartisan bill called the Free Speech Protect Act would allow reporters and others to fight back against billionaires and corporations who try to use the courts to silence them. Tell your representative to support this bill today.

US lawmakers urge Biden to pardon Assange to send ‘clear message’ on media freedom (The Guardian). Unless Biden has decided to limit his pardon power to family members, he should pardon Julian Assange to send a message that journalists shouldn’t be prosecuted for speaking to sources and publishing the news.

U.S. officials urge Americans to use encrypted apps amid unprecedented cyberattack (NBC News). The same FBI that routinely tries to destroy encryption is now recommending it to Americans after a massive hack of our telephone system by China. Maybe the FBI will remember that the next time it starts pushing to limit encryption. 

In Minnesota courts first, FOX 9 cameras allowed in murder trial under new rules (Fox 9). The public is more likely to trust that justice is being done if they can see it for themselves. More state and federal courts should follow Minnesota's lead in allowing cameras in the courtroom.

Volunteers thumbed through over a hundred annual reports to find out how agencies are using AI for FOIA. Here’s what they found (MuckRock). The public needs to know more about agencies’ use of AI for FOIA. Even agencies that say they’re using it often don’t specify whether it’s for generating response letters, searching for records, applying exemptions, or something else.