Journalism

Why Is A Stanford Student Reporter Still Facing Felony Charges?

June 22, 2024 Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter. Educate! California, Higher Education, Journalism, Press Freedom, State Repression

A coalition of press freedom and First Amendment organizations have demanded that the Santa Clara County District Attorney’s Office abandon felony charges against a Stanford University student reporter. Dilan Gohill, a freshman, covers student protests for the university’s newspaper known as The Daily. He was arrested on June 5, along with 12 demonstrators, after they engaged in an act of civil disobedience against the Stanford’s investments in companies “that provide material and logistical support to Israel’s current military campaign” in Gaza. The letter [PDF] from the coalition to the local prosecutor indicates that police jailed Gohill for 15 hours. He could be charged with “felony burglary, vandalism, and conspiracy, according to his lawyers and the U.S. Press Freedom Tracker.”

Call For Action By Journalists Against Gag Rules After Key Legal Win

June 19, 2024 Society of Professional Journalists. Resist! Censorship, Gag Rules, Journalism, Journalists, Legal System

The Society of Professional Journalists is issuing a call to action for journalists to fight government restrictions on employee speech rights following what is believed to be the first time a journalist has won a legal settlement against gag rules on workers in public agencies. The settlement came in a suit brought by investigative reporter Brittany Hailer against the Allegheny County Jail in Pittsburgh for its rules prohibiting employees from speaking to the press or posting information on social media. After rounds of negotiations with Hailer’s attorneys, the county agreed in April that its employees and contractors “have constitutional rights to speak on matters of public concern when acting as private citizens and not purporting to represent the view of the [Allegheny County Bureau of Corrections].”

New York Times Ramps Up Venezuela Propaganda Ahead Of Elections

June 14, 2024 Ricardo Vaz, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting. Educate! Elections, Journalism, New York Times (NYT), Propaganda, Venezuela

Venezuelans will head to the polls on July 28 to choose their president for the 2025–30 term. Incumbent President Nicolás Maduro faces nine challengers as he runs for a third term. Over the past 25 years of US-sponsored coups and economic sanctions, Western corporate media have always proven a reliable source of regime-change propaganda to back Washington’s policies (FAIR.org, 12/17/18, 1/25/19, 8/15/19, 4/15/20, 5/11/20, 1/11/23). Coverage builds to a frenzy around elections, whether driven by a (misguided) hope that US surrogates will win, or by a desire to delegitimize anticipated Chavista victories. With two months to go, Western outlets are busy crafting familiar narratives, and leading the charge is the New York Times.

Israeli Government Seizes AP’S Media Equipment In Latest Act Of Censorship

May 24, 2024 Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter. Educate! Associated Press, Censorship, Israel, Journalism, Palestine

The Israeli government seized media equipment from the Associated Press after the news outlet refused to quit broadcasting a live shot of northern Gaza. Lauren Easton, who is the vice president of corporate communications for AP, condemned the Israeli government for its act of censorship. “The shutdown was not based on the content of the feed but rather an abusive use by the Israeli government of the country’s new foreign broadcaster law,” Easton stated. “We urge the Israeli authorities to return our equipment and enable us to reinstate our live feed immediately so we can continue to provide this important visual journalism to thousands of media outlets around the world.”

Lawsuit Succeeds In Lifting Gag Rules At Pittsburgh Jail

May 14, 2024 Yale Law School. Resist! Censorship, Journalism, Legal System, Pittsburgh, Press Freedom, Prisoner rights

In a win for government accountability in Pennsylvania, the Media Freedom and Information Access Clinic at Yale Law School and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press have succeeded in lifting Allegheny County Jail rules that forbid employees from talking to the press or posting information on social media. As part of a settlement reached in the federal First Amendment lawsuit on April 23, the Pittsburgh jail has adopted new policies that affirm employees’ right to speak and to disclose wrongdoing at the jail. The policies also empower jail employees to speak out to the press on matters of public concern.

Student Journalists Are Needed Now More Than Ever

May 10, 2024 Amber X. Chen, Scheer Post. Strategize! Campus Movement, Gaza, Journalism, Propaganda, Repression, Student Activism

On May 3, we celebrated World Press Freedom Day, an international holiday dedicated to the importance of journalism and a free press. And, as of May 3, more than 140 journalists have been killed in Gaza since October 7—an average of five per week. In fact, in Gaza, more journalists have been killed in the first three months of the war than in all of World War II and the Vietnam War combined. On May 5, the Israeli government raided and shut down Al Jazeera’s offices in Jerusalem. Meanwhile, in the United States—where the freedom of the press is enshrined in our Constitution’s First Amendment—law enforcement and university administrations have routinely disregarded the rights of student journalists who have been working tirelessly to cover the ongoing pro-Palestine campus protests.

Media Freedom Faces Unprecedented Threats Globally

May 4, 2024 Abdul Rahman, People's Dispatch. Educate! Israel, Journalism, Julian Assange, Media, Palestine, Press Freedom, Report, Repression, World Press Freedom Day

Journalists and independent media outlets are facing an unprecedented decline in press freedom and a rise of state repression all across the world, according to the annual report published by Reporters without Borders (RSF) on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3. RSF claims that the physical security of journalists continues to be the main threat to press freedom, noting that over 100 Palestinian journalists have been killed by Israel in Palestine in the last seven months of war in Gaza. RSF’s World Press Freedom Index of 2024 notes with worry that in most of the countries, political authorities supposed to protect press freedom, have emerged as the primary threat and the world has seen a “worrying decline in respect for media autonomy.”

Of Journalists, Students And Power

May 3, 2024 Patrick Lawrence, Scheer Post. Educate! Campus Movement, Israel, Journalism, Media, Palestine, Student Activism

The American media are never short of red-letter days when it comes to their wonderful combination of superciliousness and irresponsibility. But last week the mainstream dailies and magazines went all the way to scarlet and alizarin crimson. The brighter the better, I say, when the derelictions of our media are on display such that readers can no longer miss the deceptions and distractions that are at this point their intent. I was reading along over breakfast last Thursday in search of the overnight news on the Israeli–U.S. genocide in Gaza when I came upon the headline in The New York Times, “Laundry Detergent Sheets Are Poor Cleaners.”

Chris Hedges: Sermon For Gaza

April 29, 2024 Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. Educate! Gaza, Israel, Journalism, Palestine

In the conflicts I covered as a reporter in Latin America, Africa, the Middle East and the Balkans, I encountered singular individuals of varying creeds, religions, races and nationalities who majestically rose up to defy the oppressor on behalf of the oppressed. Some of them are dead. Some of them are forgotten. Most of them are unknown. These individuals, despite their vast cultural differences, had common traits—a profound commitment to the truth, incorruptibility, courage, a distrust of power, a hatred of violence and a deep empathy that was extended to people who were different from them, even to people defined by the dominant culture as the enemy.

Requiem For The New York Times

April 13, 2024 Chris Hedges, Scheer Post. Educate! Chris Hedges, Journalism, Media, New York Times (NYT)

I am sitting in the auditorium at The New York Times. It is the first time I have been back in nearly two decades. It will be the last. The newspaper is a pale reflection of what it was when I worked there, beset by numerous journalistic fiascos, rudderless leadership and myopic cheerleading of the military debacles in the Middle East, Ukraine and the genocide in Gaza, where one of the Times contributions to the mass slaughter of Palestinians was an editorial refusing to back an unconditional ceasefire. Many seated in the auditorium are culpable.

Biden Administration Equivocates On Federal Shield Law For Journalists

April 7, 2024 Kevin Gosztola, The Dissenter. Educate! Biden administration, Journalism, Journalists, Press Freedom

The White House has refused to say whether President Joe Biden supports a federal shield law for journalists that would protect them from having to reveal their confidential sources. In January, the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying Act, or the PRESS Act, passed in the United States House of Representatives. The legislation would “prohibit the federal government from compelling journalists and providers of telecommunications services to provide information identifying a source or any other record obtained or created by journalists in the course of their work,” according to a House Judiciary Committee report.

Media Organizations Come Together For A Free Palestine

March 5, 2024 Lara Witt and Maya Schenwar, Truthout. Organize! Ceasefire, Israel, Journalism, Media, Palestine

The United States-backed Israeli siege and genocide in Gaza is entering its sixth month. Israel’s relentless bombings and executions by Israeli snipers and soldiers have killed more than 30,000 Palestinians in Gaza, with thousands more uncounted and decomposing under the rubble, and more than 70,000 injured. Reports by nonprofit agencies and organizations have detailed the Israeli military’s numerous war crimes, including abductions, torture and sexual violence against Palestinians. More than 2.3 million Palestinians are at risk of dying from Israeli-imposed starvation, indiscriminate bombing, the spread of disease, and the cold because of Israel’s systematic targeting and elimination of hospitals, sanctuaries, homes and shelters.

Obstruction Charges Against Journalist Brandi Morin Dropped

March 2, 2024 Ricochet. Educate! Canada, Journalism, Legal System, Press Freedom

On Friday morning in Edmonton, Crown attorneys informed Brandi Morin that the charge of obstruction laid against her has been withdrawn. Morin’s lawyer, veteran criminal defence attorney Richard Mirasty, was to appear in court today to enter a plea of not guilty on Morin’s behalf, and set a date for trial. Instead, he was informed that prosecutors had chosen to withdraw the charge. “I’m just so relieved. So thankful for everyone who stood by me,” said Morin. “I was present to report, and I did nothing more or less than my job. It’s gratifying to see the Crown finally acknowledge that I did nothing wrong.”

Basic Press Freedoms At Stake In The Julian Assange Case

February 27, 2024 Chip Gibbons, Jacobin. Educate! Extradition, Freedom of the Press, Journalism, Julian Assange, United Kingdom (UK), Wikileaks

At least a half hour before the Royal Courts of Justice opened their doors on Tuesday, February 20, thousands had already gathered outside the courthouse. In two hours, two British judges would be hearing two days of arguments in what may be journalist Julian Assange’s final plea that the UK courts halt his extradition to the United States. The United States is seeking to put the WikiLeaks founder on trial for exposing its war crimes — which would set a precedent that the Espionage Act can be used to prosecute journalists who publish information the US government doesn’t like.

President Of Mexico Fights Back Against New York Times Slander

February 26, 2024 Victoria Torres, Orinoco Tribune. Resist! AMLO, Fake News, Journalism, Media, media warfare, Mexico, New York Times (NYT), Propaganda

The president of Mexico, Andrés Manuel López Obrador, criticized the US news outlet The New York Times (NYT) and stressed that journalists of NYT and other imperialist media outlets consider themselves “a divine race” that cannot be touched, “not even with a rose petal,” despite the fact that they spread slander with impunity. “You, with all due respect, do partisan journalism, because you are biased in favor of groups with vested interests, you are too close to de facto political and economic power,” AMLO said on Friday, February 23, during a tense exchange with Jesica Zermeño, journalist of Univision, during the president’s usual morning press conference.

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