Freedom of Press

Reporters March On White House On World Press Freedom Day

January 28, 2017 Mike Elk, www.facebook.com Resist! Freedom of Press, Journalism, Protests, Washington DC

By Mike Elk for Washington-Baltimore News Guild - Donald Trump has declared war on the press in the hopes to intimidate us. As unionized journalists, it's up to us to use our solidarity to push back. May 3rd is World Press Freedom Day. On May 3rd, let's march on the White House and in cities across the world against Trump's attack on the media. In our industry, we are encouraged not to take long lunches nor show up to rallies, but on May 3rd, let's do both. Let's give the cameras a sight for the ages: hundreds of journalists marching on the White House arm in arm for the cause of press freedom.

Obama Establishes Controversial Anti-Propaganda Agency

December 27, 2016 Lauren McCauley, www.commondreams.org Educate! Freedom of Press, Propaganda, Repression

By Lauren McCauley for Common Dreams - "It owns all these not-at-all-important laws are smuggled into NDAAs that are signed on Christmas Eve with basically no public debate," wrote media critic Adam Johnson. In the final hours before the Christmas holiday weekend, U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday quietly signed the 2017 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) into law—and buried within the $619 billion military budget (pdf) is a controversial provision that establishes a national anti-propaganda center that critics warn could be dangerous for press freedoms. The Countering Disinformation and Propaganda Act, introduced by Republican Sen. Rob Portman of Ohio...

Does What Happened To Journalist At US-Canada Border Herald Darker Trend?

December 2, 2016 Hugh Handeyside, www.aclu.org Educate! ACLU, Freedom of Press, Freedom of Speech, Journalism

By Hugh Handeyside for ACLU - The recent abusive border search of a Canadian photojournalist should serve as a warning to everyone concerned about press freedom these days. Ed Ou is a renowned photographer and TED senior fellow who has traveled to the United States many times to do work for The New York Times, Time magazine, and other media outlets. Last month, Ed was traveling from Canada to the U.S. to report on the protests against the Dakota Access pipeline in Standing Rock, North Dakota, when he was taken aside for additional inspection. What came next left him questioning what he thought he knew about the U.S. government and the values it stands for...

On Strip Searches And Press Freedom In North Dakota

October 21, 2016 Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan, www.truthdig.com Resist! Freedom of Press, North Dakota

By Amy Goodman and Denis Moynihan for Truth Dig - Monday was a cold, windy, autumnal day in North Dakota. We arrived outside the Morton County Courthouse in Mandan to produce a live broadcast of the “Democracy Now!” news hour. Originally, the location was dictated by the schedule imposed upon us by the local authorities; one of us (Amy) had been charged with criminal trespass for “Democracy Now!“‘s reporting on the Dakota Access Pipeline company’s violent attack on Native Americans who were attempting to block the destruction of sacred sites

Journalist Amy Goodman To Turn Herself In To Defend Freedom Of Press

October 15, 2016 Jaisal Noor, www.therealnews.com Resist! Freedom of Press, Journalism

By Jaisal Noor for TRNN - The state of North Dakota has issued an arrest warrant for me that didnt happen when I was there when the Democracy Now team on September 3rd was covering whats taking place in North Dakota which is really historic. You have the largest unification of Native American tribes from Latin America, the United States, and Canada who are struggling right now for nothing less than the fate of the planet.

US Ranks 41st In 2016 World Press Freedom Index

April 21, 2016 Staff, www.rsf.org Educate! Freedom of Press, Journalism

By Staff of Reporters Without Borders - The United States’ ranking improved in Reporters Without Borders (RSF) World Press Freedom Index, published on April 20. At 49th place in 2015, the country now ranks 41st out of 180 countries. This improvement in ranking is, however, quite relative, as in this section of the Index surrounding countries’ scores are close and small improvements are enough to drive such a positive evolution. This relative improvement by comparison hides overall negative trends.

My Second World Press Freedom Day In An Egyptian Jail

January 27, 2016 Abdullah Elfakharany, www.middleeasteye.net Resist! Censorship, Egypt, Freedom of Press, Journalism, Political Prisoner

By Abdullah Elfakharany for Middle East Eye - I was naïve - at least in the first days after I was arrested. I thought that the world would rise up to defend me, my colleagues and the freedom of the press, which was nurtured in Egypt after the 25 January Revolution in 2011. I thought all those press and human rights organisations, as well as opinion leaders who preach day and night about freedom of opinion and expression as essential values and principles, would do their best to stand in the face of flagrant violations against journalists in Egypt.

Japan Dismantles Freedom Of The Press

December 18, 2015 Jon Mitchell, www.freedom.press Educate! Freedom of Press, Japan

By Jon Mitchell for Freedom of the Press - In 2010, Japan was ranked #11 in Reporters Without Borders' global Press Freedom Index. By February 2015, that number had plummeted to #61 - and next year it will likely fall further. Since coming to power in 2012, PM Shinzo Abe and his Liberal Democratic Party have embarked upon a war of attrition against press freedoms in Japan. Assaults have included: embedding neo-nationalists in key positions at state broadcaster, NHK; issuing veiled threats to TV networks that coverage critical of the government might cost them their broadcast licenses...

Things That Can And Cannot Be Said

November 18, 2015 John Cusack, www.portside.org Educate! Freedom of Press, Surveillance

By John Cusack for Portside - One morning as I scanned the news—horror in the Middle East, Russia and America facing off in the Ukraine, I thought of Edward Snowden and wondered how he was holding up in Moscow. I began to imagine a conversation between him and Daniel Ellsberg (who leaked the Pentagon Papers during the Vietnam war). And then, interestingly, in my imagination a third person made her way into the room—the writer Arundhati Roy. It occurred to me that trying to get the three of them together would be a fine thing to do. I had heard Roy speak in Chicago, and had met her several times. One gets the feeling very quickly with her and comes to the rapid conclusion that there are no pre-formatted assumptions or givens.

#FreeAJStaff: Travesty Of Justice Continues

September 2, 2015 Omar Ashour, www.aljazeera.com Educate! Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Press, Journalism, Media, Political Prisoner

By Omar Ashour in Al Jazeera - "Shocked", "sickened", and "appalled" were appropriate words to describe theinternational reactions - and some of the local ones - to the second sentencing of Al Jazeera journalists and their colleagues in a Cairo court on Saturday. "The verdict today ... sends a message that journalists can be locked up for simply doing their job, for telling the truth, and reporting the news. And it sends a dangerous message that there are judges in Egypt who will allow their courts to become instruments of political repression and propaganda." Those were words of Mohamed Fahmy's lawyer, Amal Clooney. The more disturbing part is that her words are an understatement. The Committee to Protect Journalistsissued a report in June 2015 that concluded that Egypt's imprisonment of journalists is at an all-time high.

Murder Of Mexican Journalist Threatens Press Freedom

August 9, 2015 Ashoka Jegroo, www.wagingnonviolence.org Resist! Freedom of Press, Media, Violence

By Ashoka Jegroo in Waging Nonviolence. Mexico City, Mexico - One man has been arrested in connection with the July 31 murder of Mexican photojournalist Rubén Espinosa, social activist Nadia Vera, their two roommates and their housekeeper. They were all beaten, tortured and shot in the head in their apartment in Mexico City. Two other suspects are still yet to be found. Espinosa’s death adds one more to the dozens of journalists killed in Mexico over the last few years. Depending on who is doing the counting, between 88 and 127 journalists have been killed in Mexico since 2000. Espinosa worked for the magazines Proceso, Agencia Cuartoscuro and AVC Noticiasin the Mexican state of Veracruz, though his murder occurred outside the state.

LAPD Convinces LA Times To Fire Editorial Cartoonist, Ted Rall

July 29, 2015 Ted Rall, www.anewdomain.net Resist! Art, Freedom of Press, LAPD, Los Angeles, Media, police brutality

By Ted Rall in A New Domain - As an editorial cartoonist for The Los Angeles Times, I have drawn numerous cartoons critical of the Los Angeles Police Department’s abuse, corruption and heavy-handed incompetence. Now it seems the LAPD has gotten even: It has convinced the Times to fire me. At issue is a blog I wrote to accompany my May 11, 2015 cartoon for the Times. It was about an announced LAPD crackdown. Not on violent crime, but jaywalking. I opened with a personal anecdote from nearly 14 years ago, when a Los Angeles police officer ticketed me for jaywalking on Melrose Avenue in West Hollywood. The date was October 3, 2001. I’ll get into the allegations below the fold. But first, here is a far-from-complete sample of LAPD-related cartoons I’ve drawn for The Times and some other publications. . .

What Is Revolutionary Media? 3 Key Ideas

July 24, 2015 Kit O'Connell, www.mintpressnews.com Create! Freedom of Press, Journalism, Media, Revolution

By Kit O'Connell in Mint Press News - I wanted to talk today about the challenges of being a new media journalist today, and I’ve got three major points and a couple challenges we face that I plan to touch on. We all agree that old media is dying, that’s part of why we’re here. It’s also oppressing people on the way out by throwing a temper tantrum as it dies, and it’s hurting everybody — especially those of us who want to be journalists in a sustainable career, and for anyone who wants to reach people. But new media kind of looks like a sweat shop! On July 1, Digiday published a study on the volume of publishing in modern online media. According to their figures, Huffington Post has 532 full time staff churning out 1,200 articles per day, with an additional 400 unpaid blog posts generated daily. So here’s three major points to focus on when we imagine revolutionary media. 1) Revolutionary media is decentralized and diverse. 2) Revolutionary media is not neutral or balanced. 3) Revolutionary media is sustainable.

Chevron’s US Media Strategy: Write The Headlines

July 23, 2015 Ed King, www.rtcc.org Educate! Chevron, Freedom of Press, Media, Oil & Gas

By Ed King in RTCC - It’s especially lucky to have a beneficent local employer, which regards economic growth as a priority. Sometimes those locals are even invited to the employer’s offices where they can conduct “actual research” and take job training classes. Welcome to the US West Coast, where fossil fuel giant Chevron owns the news and controls the messaging in a city of 100,000. Richmond also happens to be the location for one of the US$200 billion oil and gas major’s largest refineries, which employs 3,536 locals. This isn’t George Orwell’s 1984, it’s 2015: a media landscape where declining local coverage allows the Chevron-funded Richmond Standard news website to offer a “community driven” news source. In reality, it’s a platform for Chevron to try and rebuild community links that were shattered in 2012 when a huge fire at the refinery left 15,000 residents needing hospital treatment

Police Target Journalists & Organizers In Police Brutality Protests

July 22, 2015 Unicorn Riot, www.unicornriot.ninja.com Resist! #BlackLivesMatter, Black Lives Matter (BLM), Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Press, Indigenous People, Journalism, police brutality

By Unicorn Riot - Protests in Denver continue in the wake of the killing of Paul Castaway by Denver police officers. Paul Castaway, a 35 year old enrolled member of the Rosebud Lakota nation, was killed July 12, 2015 after his mother called police for “mental help assistance.” His last words were, “What’s wrong with you guys?” as he held a knife to his own neck. Police claimed that Castaway ran at them with a knife, but local witnesses contradict police claims. Also contradicting the police claims is a yet to be released video reviewed by a local reporter who stated that it showed Castaway standing still at a distance when police shot him. On Monday, July 20th, protesters continued to take the streets in Denver demanding justice for Paul Castaway’s death and gathered outside a Police Chiefs meeting.

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