Lessons from prison on media consolidation and censorship

Dear Friend of Press Freedom:

Good news first: Journalist Ahmed Shihab-Eldin has been cleared of all charges by a Kuwaiti court and is expected to be released soon, after nearly two months in detention. Now, news you can use: Congress is still weighing Section 702 of FISA. Use our action center to urge lawmakers to include real privacy protections for journalists and all Americans in any renewal of the law. Then read on for what else you need to know about press freedom this week.

Lessons from a Texas prison about the Paramount-Warner merger

Incarcerated journalist Jeremy Busby has seen firsthand the harms that result when the government chooses the media the people consume.

People’s politics change, but so does their sense of self-worth. When a Texas prison shoved “tough on crime” commentary down the throats of those in its care, they started believing their pasts made them unworthy of common decency and basic necessities.

Busby worries that if people like President Donald Trump and Paramount Skydance CEO David Ellison seize even more control of what Americans see and read, it’ll have a similar impact on how the rest of us see ourselves. Busby’s peers in prison stopped believing they deserved soap and toilet paper — those on the outside might stop believing they deserve democracy.

WHCA … WTF?

The White House Correspondents’ Association probably shouldn’t have an annual dinner where journalists hobnob with government officials they cover. And if they really need to have one, they definitely shouldn’t let anti-press authoritarians like Trump, Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth — all of whom are reportedly attending — anywhere near the entrance.

And yet here we are. Trump is scheduled to address the WHCA dinner on Saturday. He’s reportedly hired joke-writers for a “roast” of journalists. We put together a bingo card to make the evening a little less unbearable for people forced to endure what will surely be one of history’s lamest stand-up routines. And we joined a letter with hundreds of current and former journalists urging the WHCA to forcefully protest Trump’s antics. Our suggestion? Shout “BINGO” when you win (everyone will win), walk out, and do something better with your evening.

Kash Patel’s probe of journalist is ‘off the rails’

FBI Director Kash Patel started his week by filing a ridiculous strategic lawsuit against public participation against The Atlantic. Days after filing the SLAPP suit, The New York Times reported that Patel’s FBI investigated its reporter, Elizabeth Williamson, after she wrote about his use of government resources to pay for transportation and security for his girlfriend. The bureau says it does not plan to charge Williamson.

We said in a statement, “If Kash Patel was looking to disprove Williamson’s reporting about him using government resources for personal matters, siccing his agency on a reporter for retribution is a very strange way of doing it. … It’s outrageous that a sober-minded FBI would even consider a theory that reporting methods like phone calls and emails might constitute stalking.”

To live and lie in LA

It doesn’t take a detective to recognize the Los Angeles Police Department has a problem with mistreating journalists. Last year, a federal judge said there’s “a mountain of evidence.” Victims range from freelancers to Pulitzer Prize winners. Many were simply denied access, but others suffered life-altering injuries from violent officers at protests.

So imagine our surprise when the police chief told the police commission (his bosses) that “working media” have no problems. He even suggested the department’s relationship with the press might be the best in the country. Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Deputy Director of Advocacy Adam Rose went to confront these falsehoods at the next commission meeting — and he brought receipts.

SEC gag rule is unconstitutional censorship

We’ve written before about the Securities and Exchange Commission’s plainly illegal “gag rule” prohibiting those who settle with the SEC from talking about their cases, including to journalists. It’s a blatant prior restraint that the government justifies by citing its desire to shield itself from embarrassment — the absolute worst justification for censorship imaginable.

This week we joined a legal brief with the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, the Institute for Free Speech, and the Rutherford Institute, explaining, “When the government permanently silences those it has pursued—as the target’s price of ending that pursuit … [it] has secured for itself exactly what the First Amendment forbids.”