‘This kind of behavior cannot be tolerated’: Police raid on Kansas newspaper alarms media, press freedom groups
A police raid on a small-town Kansas newspaper, the Marion County Record, has sent shockwaves through the local community and raised national alarm among press freedom and civil rights groups about its potential to undermine press freedom in the United States. The search warrant, which was signed on Friday and alleges identity theft and unlawful…
U.S. midterm election 2022: Journalist safety kit
The U.S. midterm elections will be held on Tuesday, November 8, 2022, in an increasingly polarized political climate. During this midterm election year, all 435 seats in the House of Representatives and 35 of the 100 seats in the Senate will be contested. Online abuse and digital threats to journalists have been steadily increasing, as…
Fullerton journalists sued for “hacking” city’s open Dropbox folder
In a complaint filed in the California Superior Court of Orange County on October 24, 2019, the City of Fullerton, California accused a community blog and two contributors of violating anti-hacking laws for accessing confidential files city employees posted online, according to their lawyer Kelly Aviles and court documents reviewed by CPJ. Aviles told CPJ…
Carmody case shows grave police overreach, say lawyers
Bryan Carmody, a breaking news stringer who frequently worked the police beat in San Francisco, woke on May 10 to the sound of a sledgehammer at the metal gate securing his front door. Law enforcement agents investigating the leak of internal police documents were attempting to discover his source, CPJ reported at the time.
CPJ, RCFP file lawsuit seeking documents in leak investigation
Yesterday, the Committee to Protect Journalists and the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP) filed a lawsuit against the United States government seeking to obtain documents concerning steps taken by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) to investigate leakers and to identify journalists’ sources.
Supreme Court could limit FOIA, curtail investigative reporting
It’s been over eight years since Jonathan Ellis, an investigative reporter at the Argus Leader, filed what he thought was a routine Freedom of Information Act request. He wanted five years of reimbursement data from the Agriculture Department (USDA) Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP)–a program that helps people with low incomes buy food from grocery…
Leak prosecutions under Trump chill national security beat
When President Donald Trump’s nominee for attorney general, William Barr, was asked at his confirmation hearing in January whether he would ever consider jailing a journalist, Barr paused for about eight seconds, then said he could “conceive of a situation” where a journalist is jailed as a “last resort.” Such equivocation was troubling to press…
CPJ welcomes district court’s reversal in L.A. Times prior restraint case
New York, July 17, 2018 — U.S. District Judge John F. Walter today vacated a temporary restraining order that he had issued three days earlier prohibiting the Los Angeles Times from publishing details of a sealed plea agreement that had mistakenly been made public. The decision came in the wake of an outcry from media…
How US Espionage Act can be used against journalists covering leaks
Earlier this week, Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly joked about Trump using a saber on the press and U.S. Senator Jim Risch told CNN the press should be questioning the Washington Post about its sources. Then, on May 16, The New York Times reported that President Donald Trump allegedly asked former FBI director…
Journalists covering Standing Rock face charges as police arrest protesters
For months, environmental protesters have clashed with police and private security companies over plans for the Dakota Access Pipeline, a $3.7 billion project that opponents say will destroy Native American sites and affect the region’s water supply. While mainstream media have covered flashpoints in the protests, a core of mostly freelance, left-wing, and Native American…