Dear Friend of Press Freedom,
Local officials with grudges, cowardly media executives, and MAGAfied regulators are all pushing around the free press. Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) is here to help you push back. Read the latest.
Local news fights press threats
When authorities in Marion, Kansas, and Clarksdale, Mississippi, attacked their local newspapers, the outrage quickly ignited across the U.S.
We wanted to hear more about how local news can fight back against unconstitutional efforts to quash the free press, so last week, we spoke to Clarksdale Press Register Publisher Wyatt Emmerich and Marion County Record Publisher Eric Meyer.
In both cases, the officials involved had long-standing grudges with the newspapers over critical coverage long before the attacks made national headlines. But once the national spotlight turned to Marion and Clarksdale, officials’ attempts to silence local reporting failed.
Still, if attacks like these can happen in Clarksdale or Marion, they can happen anywhere. For more on how Emmerich and Wyatt successfully pushed back, read more about our interview or watch it here.
When the First Amendment fails, try the Fifth
Chicago journalist Jim DeRogatis is no criminal, but in 2008 he pleaded the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying at music superstar R. Kelly’s trial because the video of Kelly’s crimes that a source gave him was, technically, illegal to possess. Despite the unlikelihood that he’d be prosecuted for involuntary receipt of a newsworthy video, the mere possibility was enough to invoke his privilege against self-incrimination.
It’s a strategy that more journalists unfortunately may need to consider, given the absence of a federal reporter’s privilege law and the inconsistency among state laws. And prosecutors and police around the country are giving reporters more justifications to plead the Fifth than ever before with their frequent efforts to criminalize routine newsgathering. If authorities keep claiming that journalism is a crime, journalists should take them at their word when asked to testify. Read more from our Advocacy Director Seth Stern.
Shareholders can stop media bribes to Trump
As Paramount executives grapple with the decision of whether to settle President Donald Trump’s $20 billion lawsuit against the media conglomerate’s CBS News unit for allegedly editing an interview in favor of Kamala Harris, The Wall Street Journal has reported that at least some executives are hesitant to write a check.
It’s not because they care about the First Amendment or the precedent that settling would set for journalists. It’s because they’re scared of getting sued. As they should be.
As Stern and FPF Advocacy Intern Aleksandar Shipetich explain, settling the frivolous lawsuit to secure approval of a merger (the rumored motivation for settling the CBS News case) could amount to bribery. That would mean Paramount’s shareholders could use what’s known as a derivative lawsuit to hold executives accountable for harming the value of their shares. Read more here.
FCC’s investigation into CBS is a scare tactic
Federal Communications Commission Chair Brendan Carr’s decision to reopen the “news distortion” investigation into CBS over the editing of a “60 Minutes” interview with Kamala Harris is a scare tactic, spectacle, and a show trial intended to intimidate the press and chill free speech.
You don’t have to take our word for it — that’s how former broadcast journalists and organizations like the American Civil Liberties Union and the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression have described the FCC’s unconstitutional “news distortion” investigation.
We read the public comments in the FCC proceeding so you don’t have to. Check out the highlights on our website.
What we’re reading
Indiana case against photographer dismissed (U.S. Press Freedom Tracker). Good news! Prosecutors have dropped their unconstitutional case against Chicago photojournalist Matthew Kaplan for covering an Immigration and Customs Enforcement protest in Gary, Indiana.
Indiana law protected my right to free speech. We need this protection in Iowa. (The Des Moines Register). Every state needs a strong law protecting journalists from strategic lawsuits against public participation, or SLAPPs, like the one that protected this journalist in Indiana.
The Atlantic editor who broke “Signalgate” did nothing wrong. He could be prosecuted anyway. (Slate). Hate to say we told you so, but … legal risks created by the Biden administration’s ill-advised journalist prosecutions might be why Jeffrey Goldberg voluntarily left a Signal chat with Trump administration officials that could’ve generated countless important stories.
Joint congressional letter on journalists endangered by shutdown of U.S. Agency for Global Media (PEN America). We joined PEN America and others to urge Congress to ensure the safety of journalists at Voice of America, Radio Free Asia, and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty who are in danger of deportation and imprisonment as the Trump administration guts those outlets.
Trump’s attacks on press freedom are paving the way for authoritarianism (Vanity Fair). Joel Simon is right: “Media organizations across the country must rally to defend their rights, protect their people, and report the news with independence.”
How to leak to a journalist (Nieman Lab). No method of leaking is totally secure, but using SecureDrop, Signal, and the other tips offered here can help. For more on how to leak sensitive information to the press securely and anonymously, check out our video.
