Dear Friend of Press Freedom,
It’s the 136th day that Rümeysa Öztürk is facing deportation by the United States government for writing an op-ed it didn’t like, and the 55th day that Mario Guevara has been imprisoned for covering a protest. Read on for more, and click here to subscribe to our other newsletters.
Paramount’s $36 million babysitter
Paramount and Skydance Media finally completed their merger this week. To get there, Paramount paid $16 million to settle President Donald Trump’s absurdly frivolous lawsuit against CBS News, while Skydance reportedly will chip in $20 million in Trump-friendly PSAs.
So now Trump will leave them alone, right? Of course not. Skydance also committed to Federal Communications Commission chair and Trump bootlicker Brendan Carr to appoint a “bias ombudsman.” Skydance CEO David Ellison assured skeptics that the position will be a “transparency vehicle, not an oversight vehicle.” He promised that “we’re not being overseen by the FCC or anyone else.”
Carr sees it differently. He told The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr that the FCC is in a “trust but verify posture,” noting that “when you make a filing at the FCC, we have rules and regulations that deal with false representations to the agency.” He added, “I’m confident that we’re going to stay in touch with [Skydance and Paramount] and track this issue.”
It sure sounds like Carr’s leaving the door wide open to threaten regulatory action whenever CBS broadcasts something he doesn’t like. Carr — who intends to monitor bias while wearing the president’s bust as a lapel pin — is the poster child for why the Constitution bars the government from meddling in newsrooms’ editorial decisions. Carr has also said he’s keeping his FCC’s nonsense investigation into CBS open, giving him another cudgel to wield if journalists forget who’s boss. There’s $36 million well spent.
Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF) Advocacy Director Seth Stern talked more about Carr’s censorial antics and our attorney disciplinary complaint against him on Legal AF’s “Court of History” podcast on the MeidasTouch network. Watch it here.
FPF’s barrage of FOIAs seeks to combat secrecy
Since our Freedom of Information Act request exposed the lies underpinning the Trump administration’s crackdown on leaks to journalists, FPF has filed over 100 more FOIAs to learn how the administration is targeting journalists and stifling dissent.
We put together a list of our top 10 most urgent FOIA requests. Read more here.
How federal law enables retaliation against incarcerated journalists
These days the president of the United States files frivolous lawsuits at an alarming clip, including against news outlets that displease him. He’s far from the only prominent public figure abusing the federal court system in this way.
And yet, Congress has not seen fit to pass a federal “anti-SLAPP” law to stop powerful billionaires and politicians from pursuing strategic lawsuits against public participation. But powerless prisoners? That’s another story. If they want access to the federal courts, they need to navigate the Prison Litigation Reform Act — a maze of onerous procedural requirements.
We hosted a webinar with incarcerated journalist Jeremy Busby and two attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, Nina Patel and Corene Kendrick, to hear more about how the law silences journalism. Read and watch here.
Don’t let the leading voice for digital journalists be silenced
For decades, the National Press Photographers Association has protected the rights of news photographers and videographers. But recently, NPPA announced that it faces financial difficulties. We spoke to NPPA’s longtime General Counsel, Mickey Osterreicher, about NPPA’s work and the impact on the First Amendment if it shutters. You can support the NPPA’s programs here.
Privacy policy update
We’ve updated FPF’s privacy policy to include a new payment processor and our use of Fight for the Future’s activism APIs. See the updated policy for details.
What We're Reading
The price of approval: How Paramount sold out the First Amendment for a merger
FPF’s Stern spoke to Protect the Protest — a coalition of nonprofit organizations fighting back against Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation, of which we are a proud member — about what the Paramount merger means for press freedom.
Ohio reporter’s notebook searched by Secret Service at Vance fundraiser
This is an obvious violation of reporters’ rights. Secret Service members should have basic First Amendment training, especially if they are going to be dispatched in the field.
New York Times responds to Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawsuit threat: “An increasingly common playbook”
The government that has killed more journalists than all other countries combined over the last few years shouldn’t be lecturing a newspaper about anything — let alone an obviously true story.
US appeals court upholds SEC ‘gag rule’ over free speech objections
An unfortunate decision, but this might be one of the rare instances when this Supreme Court accidentally does some good. We wrote last year about how this rule impacts the press.
Home Depot and Lowe's share data from hundreds of AI cameras with cops
First, the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a public records request that uncovered how Home Depot and Lowe’s are cooperating with cops. Then, 404 Media made the story free thanks to their commitment to dropping paywalls for public records-based reporting.
Govt. website ‘glitch’ removes Trump’s least favorite part of Constitution
We’re skeptical of the government’s excuses for deleting habeas corpus from an online copy of the Constitution. Let us guess, the next “glitch” makes the First Amendment disappear?
Law strikes back: Lawyers doing Trump’s bidding targeted where integrity still matters
Rachel Maddow discussed our disciplinary complaint against Carr as an example of using the legal profession’s standards “as a way to stand up and push back against” attacks on the press.
