Freedom of Press

Press Freedom Is Declining In The US

May 8, 2015 Alison Bethel McKenzie, www.america.aljazeera.com Educate! Baltimore, Freedom of Press, Journalism, Media, police brutality

Today the world recognizes World Press Freedom Day. Instituted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), its purpose, according to the U.N., is to “celebrate the fundamental principles of press freedom, to evaluate press freedom around the world, to defend the media from attacks on their independence and to pay tribute to journalists who have lost their lives in the exercise of their profession.” The issues of quality reporting, media independence and the safety of journalists are as relevant today as ever, especially in the United States. While American journalists have long been hailed as flag bearers of the profession — able to report, write and broadcast in mostly ideal circumstances — in the past two decades or more, we have seen a number of cases of fabrication by journalists who have shamed the profession at large and undermined public trust.

My 49 hours In A Baltimore Cell – For Being A Reporter

May 5, 2015 Shawn Carrié, www.theguardian.com Educate! Baltimore, Freedom of Press, Media, police brutality, Wars and Militarism

As a working member of the press, I was arrested on 27 April, just as Baltimore began to erupt, and detained for 49 hours before being released without charge. A flurry of legal maneuvering, coupled with the fog of a state of emergency, meant that I and several others were deprived of our constitutional protections under the first, fourth, sixth, and eighth amendments. A line of riot police then charged against a throng of rioters – I followed them, camera in hand, trying to capture the tumultuous scene. I was hit directly in the forehead with a plastic “less lethal” projectile that explodes with an irritant powder on impact. I stumbled over to the sidewalk. Everything went black for a moment, and the next thing I saw were faces staring down at me as I lay on the grass.

Spanish Parliament Passes Anti-Indignado Law Against Protests

March 30, 2015 Erin Gallagher, www.revolution-news.com Educate! Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Press, police brutality, Spain

Yesterday three laws widely criticized by the opposition and human rights groups were approved in Spanish Congress. The Penal Code, the new Anti-Terror Law and the Law on Citizen Safety. The three new texts challenge freedom of expression in the streets and on the Internet. All three laws are scheduled to go into effect July 1, 2015. Under the new Citizen Safety Law or Ley Mordaza (Gag Law) as human rights defenders have renamed it, public protests, freedoms of speech and the press and documenting police abuses will become crimes punishable by heavy fines and/or jail. Some key points on the Ley Mordaza: Photographing or recording police – 600 to 30.000€ fine. . .

Ron Wyden, Progressives And The TPP

March 25, 2015 Gaius Publius, www.flushthetpp.org Strategize! Finance and the Economy, Freedom of Press, Internet, TPP

In recent months, progressives have been voicing their opposition to the Trans-Pacific Partnership. And they might try and make an example out of Sen. Ron Wyden over it, even though he’s been a reliable ally for years. The free trade agreement, which would involve 12 Asia-Pacific countries—including the U.S. along with countries like Mexico, Japan and Canada—could account for 40 percent of global GDP and one-third of all world trade. Progressive groups say that the deal is no good: it could ship more jobs overseas, undercut environmental and labor standards, and increase Internet censorship. The deal’s future may rest with Wyden, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, and his support for the partnership has some progressives thinking about going after one of their own in their fight against the deal.

Whistleblowers Wanted: Mexican Journalists Seek Tips

March 18, 2015 Jo Tuckman, www.theguardian.com Resist! Freedom of Expression, Freedom of Press, Journalism, Mexico

In a country rife with corruption, criminality and abuse – and where saying the wrong thing in earshot of the wrong people can get you killed – Mexican journalists can have a hard time obtaining the kind of solid information required to sort out rumour from reality. Now an alliance of eight Mexican media outlets and civil society groups is courting potential whistleblowers with a new digital platform that promises to protect the anonymity of sources with the help of sophisticated encryption software. Mexicoleaks describes its mission as the construction of a “Transparent Mexico”, and participants say they hope it will help them document political corruption, human rights abuses and other misuses of institutional and economic power.

Al-Jazeera Journalists Leave Egyptian Prison On Bail

February 13, 2015 Patrick Kingsley, www.theguardian.com Educate! Egypt, Freedom of Press, Journalism

A court in Egypt has freed two imprisoned al-Jazeera English journalists on bail, nearly a fortnight after their Australian colleague, Peter Greste, was deported. The decisions means Mohamed Fahmy and Baher Mohamed have been allowed to walk free for the first time in 14 months. They were arrested in December 2013 on trumped-up charges of helping terrorists and spreading false news. Adel Fahmy tweeted jubilantly on Friday morning that his journalist brother had been released after posting bail. Baher Mohamed was also freed, his family told the Guardian soon afterwards. Fahmy had been ordered to put up 250,000 Egyptian pounds (£21,000/$US33,000) for his freedom, but Mohamed and several students also tried alongside Greste have no fee to pay.

The Anti-Empire Report #136: Murdering journalists, Them & Us

January 21, 2015 William Blum, www.williamblum.org Educate! Freedom of Press, History, Journalism

After Paris, condemnation of religious fanaticism is at its height. I’d guess that even many progressives fantasize about wringing the necks of jihadists, bashing into their heads some thoughts about the intellect, about satire, humor, freedom of speech. We’re talking here, after all, about young men raised in France, not Saudi Arabia. Where has all this Islamic fundamentalism come from in this modern age? Most of it comes – trained, armed, financed, indoctrinated – from Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, and Syria. During various periods from the 1970s to the present, these four countries had been the most secular, modern, educated, welfare states in the Middle East region. And what had happened to these secular, modern, educated, welfare states?

Condi Rice Testifies How Gov’t Manipulates Media

January 17, 2015 Matt Apuzzo, www.nytimes.com Educate! CIA, Freedom of Press, Media

White House officials favor two primary tactics when they want to kill a news article, Condoleezza Rice, the former national security adviser, testified Thursday: They can essentially confirm the report by arguing that it is too important to national security to be published, or they can say that the reporter has it wrong. Sitting across from a reporter and editor from The New York Times in early 2003, Ms. Rice said, she tried both. Testifying in the leak trial of Jeffrey Sterling, a former C.I.A.officer, Ms. Rice described how the White House successfully persuaded Times editors not to publish an article about a secret operation to disrupt Iran’s nuclear program. James Risen, a Times reporter, ultimately revealed the program in his 2006 book, “State of War,” and said that the C.I.A. had botched the operation.

Defiant On Witness Stand, Times Reporter Says Little

January 6, 2015 Matt Apuzzo, www.nytimes.com Resist! Freedom of Press, James Risen, Journalism, Law, Media

After losing a seven-year legal battle, James Risen, a reporter for The New York Times, reluctantly took the witness stand in federal court here on Monday, but refused to answer any questions that could help the Justice Department identify his confidential sources. Mr. Risen said he would not say anything to help prosecutors bolster their case against Jeffrey A. Sterling, a former C.I.A.officer who is set to go on trial soon on charges of providing classified information to Mr. Risen for his 2006 book, “State of War.” The Justice Department first subpoenaed Mr. Risen to testify in the case against Mr. Sterling in 2008, and Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. authorized the subpoena again in 2011. The attempt to force Mr. Risen to disclose his sources has come to symbolize the Obama administration’s crackdown on government officials who talk to reporters about national security matters.

Egypt Court Orders Retrial For Peter Greste & Al-Jazeera Colleagues

January 3, 2015 Patrick Kingsley, www.theguardian.com Educate! Egypt, Freedom of Press, Journalism, Law

Three al-Jazeera English journalists jailed in Egypt have been sent for retrial after a New Year’s Day appeal hearing in Cairo, dashing their families’ hopes of a release on bail, but opening the door for two of the trio to be deported. After more than a year in jail, Canadian-Egyptian Mohamed Fahmy, Australian Peter Greste and Egyptian Baher Mohamed now face several further months behind bars, with no date for a new hearing set. Fahmy and Greste could still be deported under the terms of a recent presidential decree that allows foreign nationals to serve sentences in their home countries, but President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi’s office did not respond to a request for comment about his intentions.

Protests Mark 1 Year Since Al Jazeera Journalists Jailed

December 30, 2014 Tim Chester, www.mashable.com Resist! Egypt, Freedom of Press, Journalism

Friends, colleagues and supporters of the three Al Jazeera journalists who were arrested in Egypt exactly one year ago have gathered outside the Egyptian embassy to protest against their incarceration. Staff from Channel 4, CNN and other organisations held banners bearing the hashtag #FreeAJStaff and taped their mouths shut during the silent protest to draw attention to the trio's ongoing sentence, at the start of a week that could see their case up for a retrial. Baher Mohamed, Mohamed Fahmy and Peter Greste were arrested in Cairo on Dec. 29, 2013, and convicted on terrorism-related charges in June. Mohamed, an Egyptian producer, received a sentence of 10 years in prison while Egyptian-Canadian Fahmy, Al Jazeera's Cairo bureau chief, and Australian Greste, a former BBC correspondent, were sentenced to seven years each.

The Latest Twist In The Bizarre Prosecution Of Barrett Brown

December 23, 2014 Michelle Garcia, www.firstlook.org Educate! Freedom of Press, Journalism, Media

Wearing a prison-issued orange uniform, the 33-year-old Brown scribbled for hours as a federal prosecutor attempted to portray him, not as a freelance journalist whose work has appeared in The Guardian, Vanity Fairand the Dallas-based Dmagazine, but instead as a spokesman, strategist and contributor to the hacktivist collective Anonymous. It was the final phase of a criminal prosecution that at one point threatened Brown with more than 100 years in prison, as a result of his work on thousands of files hacked by Anonymous from the servers of HBGary Federal and Stratfor, security intelligence firms and government contractors. Through the online collective he founded, called Project PM, Brown analyzed and reported on the thousands of pages of leaked documents. The HBGary hack revealed a coordinated campaign to target and smear advocates for WikiLeaks and the Chamber of Commerce, while the Stratfor hack provided a rare window into the shadowy world of defense contractors.

White House Protested Over Threats To Net Neutrality

November 8, 2014 Nancy Scola, www.washingtonpost.com Resist! Freedom of Press, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Internet, Net Neutrality

Acting as emcee for the night's events was Evan Greer, an organizer with the online advocacy group Fight for the Future. "These are the devices that we use to connect to free speech," Greer said, pointing to the phones and laptops being held aloft, many open to ProtestSign.org. "It is your power to connect. It is power to speak out. With that tiny device in your hand, you can reach millions of people, and it doesn't cost a cent -- other than what you pay monthly." Said Ammori, the D.C. lawyer, noting his insular childhood in Michigan: "Life before the Internet was just ads and shopping malls and bad TV. To me, it's just really personal: I just love the Internet." That just might be the one thing everyone engaged in this debate can agree on.

AP Exclusive: Ferguson No-Fly Zone Aimed At Media

November 4, 2014 Jack Gillum and Joan Lowy, www.bigstory.ap.org Educate! Ferguson, Freedom of Press, Freedom of Speech and Assembly, Media, Police the Police

The U.S. government agreed to a police request to restrict more than 37 square miles of airspace surrounding Ferguson, Missouri, for 12 days in August for safety, but audio recordings show that local authorities privately acknowledged the purpose was to keep away news helicopters during violent street protests. On Aug. 12, the morning after the Federal Aviation Administration imposed the first flight restriction, FAA air traffic managers struggled to redefine the flight ban to let commercial flights operate at nearby Lambert-St. Louis International Airport and police helicopters fly through the area — but ban others. "They finally admitted it really was to keep the media out," said one FAA manager about the St. Louis County Police in a series of recorded telephone conversations obtained by The Associated Press.

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