Press Freedom Alert
Press Freedom Case Might Be Heard in Secret The scope of the public’s right to know should be decided in public. Who would argue with that? (more…)
Swing State Press: The Report
* Hard Times For Press Freedom and Journos * A new report just out from Reporters Without Borders (RSF) takes a deep dive into press freedom in four U.S. 'swing states' just…
“Woman, Life, Freedom”
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) * Press Release 2024.09.16 * On the second anniversary of the "Woman, Life, Freedom" protest movement, spurred by the death of Mahsa Amini, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has…
Assange Makes Plea Deal To Freedom
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FREEDOM OF THE PRESS FOUNDATION: According to court documents, the Department of Justice and Julian Assange have reached a plea agreement in the DOJ’s long-running case against the WikiLeaks…
A Desperate Wannabe Is A Dangerous Wannabe
When A Wannabe Dictator Tells You He Will Be A Dictator On Day One BELIEVE HIM! The Assault On U.S. Democracy Is Not Over (more…)
The Press Act. It’s A Good Thing
ACLU Cheers House Passage of the PRESS ACT The bill protects journalists and their sources from government overreach and censorship. Press Release: American Civil Liberties Union The House of Representatives voted to…
Marion County Record: Story Behind The Story
Marion County Record Newspaper Raid Should Concern Us All ~ There was “insufficient evidence” to justify a police raid Aug. 11 on the Marion County Record, a small newspaper in Kansas, and…
Press Freedom 2023: US Down, Again
The Once Bright Light On The Hill Continues To Dim From the annual index by Reporters Without Borders: 2023 World Press Freedom Index – journalism threatened by fake content industry The 21st…
He’s Baaack! And He’s Mad As Hell
Long-time shit-disturber Keith Olbermann is back with Countdown – as a daily podcast. Episode One: 2022.08.01 ~ Yeah, KO Is Back!
Reporters Committee Freedom of the Press Award Honorees 2022
The Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press announced the recipients of this year’s Freedom of the Press Awards, which recognize the accomplishments of leaders in the news media and legal fields…
World Press Freedom Annual Index
World Press Freedom Index 2022 by Reporters Without Borders The always anticipated annual report has been published, and, for the United States of America not much has changed. The U.S. still lags…
Press Freedom: The Good and The Bad
Theme for World Press Freedom Day 2022 is ‘journalism under digital siege’ ~ Tuesday, 3 May, is World Press Freedom Day — a day to celebrate press freedom across the globe and…
Press Freedom Last Bastion
Trevor Noah, host of The Daily Show on Comedy Central, ends his required comedy routine at the White House Correspondents' Dinner with an impassioned speech to a room full of journalists, pundits…
And So It Began…
Aedanus Burke, born in Galway, Ireland, 1743, immigrated to the American Colonies landing first in Virginia, 1769, then settled in South Carolina in 1775. In 1788, Burke was a member of the…
Protecting Press Freedom
Landmark order protecting press freedom from Minnesota police should be a model around the country For journalists covering the immediate aftermath of George Floyd’s death in 2020, there was no more dangerous…
Under Seige
Attacks On Press Freedom Statement from SPJ Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) is outraged by China's continued attacks on press freedom in Hong Kong under the guise of national security. The latest…
A Press Statement. Well, It’s Something…
Stand News Arrests and Closure ~ Press Statement Antony J. Blinken, Secretary of State The Hong Kong government’s December 29 raid and arrest of seven senior staff at Stand News have forced…
End of The Allusion
Upon the ruling by U.K.’s High Court to allow the extradition to the U.S. of WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, questions about a free press in the United States of America are being…
Emergency Call
Journalists in Ukraine Need Help
> Ukrainska Pravda <
~~
Those who cover the frontlines need first aid kits, medical supplies, flak jackets, helmets. Those trapped in towns and cities under fire need safe passage, relocation and humanitarian assistance.
More at International Federation of Journalists.
~~~
Journalists in Gaza need your help. Here’s how:
International Media Support (IMS), the Danish-based media development organisation, is collecting donations for:
- Food, clothes, blankets and other utilities for journalists and their families
- Safety equipment and gear for journalists, such as press vests, helmets, cell phones and cameras.
- Psychosocial support for journalists
- Ongoing support to keep as many media outlets as possible operating.
~~~
THE TRACKER
Freedom of the Press Foundation
Court says First Amendment means less free speech
[WHAAAAT ?!?!?!?]
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.
Jobs & Events
Opportunity for Young Journalists
Rising D.C. reporters can apply for a yearlong reporting fellowship. The National Press Foundation is accepting applications for the 2025 Paul Miller Washington Reporting Fellowship.
Fellows will learn more about the White House, the Pentagon, the Supreme Court, the Capitol and other key Washington institutions. They’ll review politics and policy with regulators, lawmakers, experts and the best reporters in the business.
To apply, submit two recent work samples, a letter of support from an editor or supervisor and a brief autobiography. Application Deadline is Dec. 2
~~
Color Of Change, in partnership with the National Education Association, invites you to watch “Educating for Equity: Brown v Board of Education 70 Years Later,” a short video featuring a range of young and older thought leaders talking about the groundbreaking case and the challenges facing our public education system today. Participants discuss what we need to do to protect education moving forward.
Issues
The Reading List
Lie Machines
How to Save Democracy from Troll Armies, Deceitful Robots, Junk News Operations, and Political Operatives
by Philip N. Howard
Lie Machines is full of behind-the-scenes stories from the world’s biggest and most damagingly successful misinformation initiatives.
Howard, not only shows how these campaigns evolved from older propaganda operations but also exposes their new powers, gives us insight into their effectiveness, and explains how to shut them down. Howard is a sociologist and communication researcher who studies the impact of information technologies on democracy and social inequality. Book Here:
~~
The ReMindEr
Speakables
The New Normal? ~ The first tool of authoritarian regimes is always informational control—both in the gathering of information on the public through surveillance and the filtration of information to the public through owned media. In its early days, the Internet seemed to pose a challenge to authoritarian regimes, but with the advent of social media, we are watching the construction of architectures that fulfill the needs of every authoritarian regime: surveillance and information control. Authoritarian movements are possible only when the general public becomes habituated to—and numbed by—a new normal. Christopher Wylie.
~~
What, to the American slave, is your 4th of July? I answer: a day that reveals to him, more than all other days in the year, the gross injustice and cruelty to which he is the constant victim. To him, your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy — a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. ‘What to a slave is the 4th of July’. 1852. Frederick Douglass.
~~
The First ~ Jessie Tarbox Beals (1870 – 1942)
The first published female photo-journalist in the United States and the first female night photographer. She is best known for her freelance news photographs, particularly of the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair, and portraits of places such as Bohemian Greenwich Village. Her trademarks were her self-described “ability to hustle” and her tenacity in overcoming gender barriers in her profession.
~~
Repeat After Me
And it gets you elected
