Dear Friend of Press Freedom,
Here are some of the most important stories we’re following from the U.S. and around the world. If you enjoy reading this newsletter, please forward it to friends and family. If someone has forwarded you this newsletter, please subscribe here.
US hides its best hurricane predictions
We’re in the middle of an especially dangerous hurricane season, but the government’s weather forecaster won’t release its most accurate predictions.
A new Washington Post report reveals that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says it can't disclose potentially lifesaving data because it promised not to in an agreement with a private vendor.
This arrangement wrongly places commercial interests above public safety. People shouldn’t die in hurricanes in the name of corporate secrecy. Read more on our website about why public-private industry partnerships must be open and transparent to the public.
US silence over Al Jazeera speaks volumes about policies on TikTok, RT
We’ve said before that Israel’s assaults on Al Jazeera provide a real-time illustration of the dangers of the U.S.'s TikTok ban legislation and the power it gifts the government to muzzle its critics by invoking vague security threats.
But even as the U.S. government does nothing about Israel’s latest raid on Al Jazeera, it expects Americans to believe that its intentions are pure in its efforts to punish foreign platforms and news outlets like TikTok and RT. Read more on our website about why we remain skeptical.
Knee-jerk secrecy keeps prepublication review broken
A new directive aims to streamline the prepublication review process for former intelligence community employees looking to write about their time in government. But it doesn’t address the main problem: The government calls too many things secrets.
The government classifies more and more information every year, often needlessly. Until agencies reduce the number of secrets they generate, prepublication review will continue to be an unwieldy, quixotic effort.
Lauren Harper, our Daniel Ellsberg chair on government secrecy, explains the prepublication review process’s flaws, the new guidance, and the directive’s failure to address the crisis of overclassification and the knee-jerk secrecy that permeates the government.
Court says First Amendment means less free speech
If it sounds backward to use the First Amendment to undermine a law meant to protect free speech, that’s because it is.
Yet that’s just what a federal court of appeals did in a recent decision on Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act — the federal law that shields online services from legal liability for posts made by their users.
We explain on our website how the court’s nonsensical decision threatens online freedom of speech by journalists and everyone else.
What we’re reading
By storming our Al Jazeera offices in Ramallah, Israel has stepped up its assault on press freedom (The Guardian). Asef Hamidi is right: World leaders must immediately and decisively stand up for press freedom, including in Gaza and the West Bank, where Israel is deliberately targeting journalists.
As president, Trump demanded investigations of foes. He often got them (The New York Times). “Secret White House documents” help show Trump's political persecution of his enemies. The public is entitled to this information, and the current secrecy around presidential and White House records is bad for democracy.
N.J. high court will hear reporter’s challenge to law shielding public officials’ addresses (New Jersey Monitor). It’s vital that the New Jersey Supreme Court reverse the appeals court’s ridiculous decision and protect journalists’ right to publish public records about government officials. Secrecy laws that claim to protect officials’ safety but instead stop journalists from investigating abuses are dangerous.
Threatened with jail over a scandal headlined by Brett Favre (ESPN). Whether it’s reporting on a welfare fraud scandal in Mississippi involving Brett Favre or steroids in baseball, no reporter should ever face jail for refusing to burn their sources. Every state needs a strong reporter’s shield law, and Congress must pass the PRESS Act.
Ark. Supreme Court refers justice for disciplinary investigation after FOIA dispute (KAIT). It’s good that the Arkansas Supreme Court ordered an investigation of a judge who ignored its directive by stopping the release of government records. But judges who trample on press rights should be investigated and punished even when they don’t insult higher courts in the process.
The National Archives: A small agency with a big responsibility safeguarding American and world history (60 Minutes). This report by 60 Minutes says what advocates have been shouting from the rooftops for years: The National Archives can't succeed, and the public will lose its history, if it does not get more and better resources and a more aggressive mindset to combat secretive agencies and presidents.
Come see us in Washington or London
The Double Exposure Festival & Symposium Nov. 7-10 in Washington, D.C., will have panels, workshops, and master classes focused on investigative storytelling. Don’t miss our Director of Advocacy Seth Stern, who will discuss dangerous government efforts to limit who is a journalist — such as by excluding documentary filmmakers. Purchase your tickets or passes here.
Or come see us in London, where we’re co-hosting Source! the London Logan Symposium with The Centre for Investigative Journalism Nov. 14-15. Hear from journalists from all over the world about press freedom issues and the challenges they face in protecting themselves and their sources. Register to attend here.
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