The newest study published by Reporters Without Borders (RSF) shows that press freedom in the US is disappearing. The US fell 13 places to number 46 in the world, largely due to mass surveillance and aggressive attacks on whistleblowers and journalists. Delphine Halgand of RSF joins us to speak about the new report. Then Josh Stearns of Free Press who has written about specific attacks on journalists in the US tells us about the newest challenges to press freedom in the US and what we need to do to end them.
Listen here:
New Report Documents Press Freedom in US Plummeting with guests Delphine Halgand and Josh Stearns by Clearingthefog on Mixcloud
Relevant articles and websites:
2014 Press Freedom Index by Reporters Without Borders
US Plummets to #46 in Global Press Freedom Rankings by Josh Stearns
Guests:
Delphine Hagland has been working as the Director of the Washington DC office for Reporters Without Borders since December 2011. She runs the US activities for the organization and advocates for journalists, bloggers and media rights worldwide. Acting as RWB’s spokesperson in the US, Delphine regularly appears on American (PBS, Democracy Now, Wall Street Journal,…), foreign media (BBC, Al Jazeera, NTN24,…) and lectures at conferences in US universities (Harvard University, UCLA, Yale…) on press freedom violation issues. Previously, she served as Press attaché in charge of outreach at the French Embassy to the US. Since graduating from Sciences Po Paris with an M.A. in Journalism, Delphine has worked as an economics corespondent for various French media (Le Monde, Les Echos, L’Express,…), focusing mainly on international politics and macroeconomic issues.
Josh Stearns directs Free Press’ campaigns on press freedom, public media and media ownership. He develops online and offline strategy, outreach and organizing efforts. Josh has published numerous reports on press freedom, journalism, media consolidation and public media, and speaks regularly about community engagement, activism and the future of journalism. Before joining Free Press, Josh coordinated policy and communications efforts for service-learning and higher education organizations. He holds a B.A. in English from St. Lawrence University and an M.A. in American studies from UMass Amherst.