Legal Info

Group Legal documents

Don’t Like What the Media Say?

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Article in Washington Post by Scott Hover, et al, 5/2/25

Headline:  “Public media ready to fight ‘unlawful’ Trump order defunding PBS, NPR”

Subhead:  “Legal scholars say the executive order may exceed presidential authority and violate First Amendment, while local stations fear impact on communities.”

“President Donald Trump’s executive order seeking to end federal funding for NPR and PBS — because of news coverage he called “biased and partisan” — triggered a fierce backlash from public broadcasters that appears poised to expand the White House’s larger legal battleground with the media industry.

“Issued Thursday night, the order instructs the congressionally chartered Corporation for Public Broadcasting to cut off direct funding to the venerable public media giants — producers of long-running news shows such as “All Things Considered” and “PBS NewsHour” — as well as any grants to local stations that might underwrite the national broadcasters’ programming. . .”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/style/media/2025/05/02/trump-npr-pbs-executive-order-funding-cut/

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Article in The Nation by John Nichols, 5/2/25

Headline: “Trump’s Assault on PBS and NPR Chooses Oligarchy Over Press Freedom and Democracy”

“As the supporters of speaking truth to power celebrate World Press Freedom Day, Trump seeks to defund public media in the United States. . .”

https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/trump-npr-pbs-threat/

Media Missing Something?

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Article in The New Republic bu Michael Tomasky, 4/25/25

Headline:  “Trump Just Did the Most Corrupt Thing Any President Has Ever Done”

Subhead:  “He’s using the White House to get rich from anonymous investors—and it’s hardly even a news story.”

“Imagine that Joe Biden, just as he was assuming office, had started a new company with Hunter Biden and used his main social media account to recruit financial backers, then promised that the most generous among them would earn an invitation to a private dinner with him. . . .”

“Take a minute, close your eyes. Let yourself see Jim Jordan’s face go purple in apoplexy, hear the moral thunder spewing out of Jesse Watters’s mouth, feel the shock (which would be wholly justified) of the New York Times editorial board as it expressed disbelief that the man representing the purported values and standards of the United States of America before the world would begin to think it was remotely OK to do such a thing. The media would be able to speak of nothing else for days. Maybe weeks. . .”

https://newrepublic.com/post/194420/trump-memecoin-dinner-corrupt-president

 

NYT – A Dubious Win?

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Article in Columbia Journalism Review by Jon Alson, 4/23/25

Headline: “Q&A: Bill Grueskin on the New York Times Beating Sarah Palin (Again)”

Subhead: ” ‘Two things can be true: you can publish something about a public figure that is clearly false, and you can avoid being held financially liable for having done so.’ ”

“. . .the gods of the media beat soon handed down another big story. Compared with the 60 Minutes and USAGM imbroglios, which are relatively recent, this one concerned a much longer-running drama and a central character—Sarah Palin, the former governor of Alaska and vice presidential candidate—who can perhaps be seen as an ur-Trump. Back in 2017, after a gunman opened fire on a congressional baseball practice, Palin sued the Times for defamation over an editorial that wrongly suggested she had helped incite the shooting of a different member of Congress, Gabby Giffords, six years earlier. (Palin’s PAC had published a map with crosshairs drawn over Giffords’s district. . .”

https://www.cjr.org/the_media_today/qa_grueskin_palin_new_york_times_sullivan.php

Robber-Baron Media?

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Article in The New York Times by CeciliaKing, Mike Isaac, and David McCabe, 4/14/25

Headline:  “U.S. Argues Meta Built a Social Media Monopoly”

Subhead:  “The tech giant went to court on Monday in an antitrust trial focused on its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp. The case could reshape its business.”

“The Federal Trade Commission on Monday accused Meta of creating a monopoly that squelched competition by buying start-ups that stood in its way, kicking off a landmark antitrust trial that could dismantle a social media empire that has transformed how the world connects online.

“In a packed courtroom in the U.S. District Court of the District of Columbia, the F.T.C. opened its first antitrust trial under the Trump administration by arguing that Meta illegally cemented a monopoly in social networking by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp when they were tiny start-ups. Those actions were part of a ‘buy-or-bury strategy,’ the F.T.C. said.”

https://archive.is/OKi9X#selection-751.0-767.46

Protect Your Sources

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Article in Poynter by Angela Fu, 4/8/25

Headline:  “Legal experts advise journalists to strengthen reporting security in the face of rising press restrictions”

Subhead:  “Journalists can protect their sources by maintaining good digital hygiene and being aware of security vulnerabilities, experts say”

“At a time when President Donald Trump’s administration has accelerated attacks on the press, accessing information and protecting sources might become more difficult for journalists, experts say.

” ‘Concerns about libel law and the protections from landmark Supreme Court case New York Times Co. v Sullivan have been exaggerated’, said New York Times deputy general counsel David McCraw and Center for Investigative Reporting general counsel Victoria Baranetsky. Instead, they advised journalists to take measures to secure their reporting material and be cognizant of the pressures they face in the current political climate. Their remarks came Monday during a Poynter webinar called ‘Safeguarding your journalism against legal threats. . .’

“Trump has already taken measures to curtail press access. His administration has laid off communications staff, reallocated dedicated office space in the Pentagon to conservative outlets, taken over the White House press pool and defunded global radio stations. Most notably, his administration has banned The Associated Press from accessing key White House spaces like the Oval Office. Members of his administration have also threatened to investigate leaks.

“Newsrooms may see more subpoenas seeking their communications and reporting material, McCraw warned. To that end, journalists should be cognizant of the documentation that they generate and keep. An unflattering private message to a colleague, for example, could be unearthed in court — as was the case earlier this year when a jury found CNN guilty of defaming a security contractor. . .”

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/trump-legal-threats-journalists-source-protection/

 

Can’t Ban the Free Press

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Article in The Guardian by Leonie Chao-Feng, 4/8/24

Headline:  “Judge orders Trump White House to lift access restrictions on Associated Press”

Subhead:  “Order restores journalists access to White House spaces while the news agency’s lawsuit moves forward”

“A US judge on Tuesday ordered the White House to restore full access to the Associated Press to presidential events, after the news agency was punished for its decision to continue to refer to the Gulf of Mexico in its coverage.

“The order from the US district judge Trevor McFadden, an appointee of Donald Trump, requires the White House to allow the AP’s journalists to access the Oval Office, Air Force One and events held at the White House.

“The White House “sharply curtailed” the AP’s access to media events with the US president after he renamed the Gulf of Mexico the “Gulf of America” and the news agency did not follow suit, McFadden wrote in a 41-page decision. . .”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/apr/08/judge-orders-white-house-restore-associated-press-access

How to Save The News

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A bronze sidewalk plaque on Library Way quotes Thomas Jefferson and features New York newspapers, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021 in New York. Jefferson is quoted, “Where the press is free, and every man is able to read, all is safe.” (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)

Article in Poynter by Amaris Castillo, 4/1/25

Headline:  “Concerned about press freedom? Here are some things you can do about it.”

Subhead:  “Democracy needs a free press, and a free press needs support — here’s how everyday people can help defend it.”

“Freedom of the press in the United States is legally protected by the First Amendment, which famously declares: ‘Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press.’

“Nearly three-quarters U.S. adults say press freedom is extremely or very important to the well-being of society, according to a 2024 Pew Research Center survey. But there’s been grave concern about the state of press freedom for some time. A separate Pew survey from 2023 found that 57% of U.S. journalists reported feeling extremely or very concerned about potential restrictions on press freedoms.

“ ‘We are truly standing at a crossroads in which one of the five freedoms of the First Amendment is under unprecedented duress,’ said Ken Paulson, who directs the Free Speech Center at the College of Media and Entertainment at Middle Tennessee State University. ‘We’ve seen, for decades, attacks by politicians on news media of all sorts. And it’s part and parcel of the relationship between a free press and those in power, but what we’re seeing now is much more aggressive and involves the use of government power directly against journalism.’ . . .”

https://www.poynter.org/reporting-editing/2025/how-protect-press-freedom-support-journalism-first-amendment/

Investigation the Media “Investigator”

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Article in The Verge by Emma Roth, 4/1/25

Headline:  “House Democrats launch investigation into ‘bogus’ FCC probes”.

“In a letter to the FCC, Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee call out Chairman Carr’s ‘actions to target and intidimate’ media companies in violation of the First Amendment:

” ‘You have launched sham investigations into entities disfavored by President Trump, Elon Musk, and the Republican Party to censor journalists and news coverage. In the absence of actual agency authority and any real evidence of wrongdoing, your pursuit of these actions is clearly intended to punish and burden broadcasters and other media companies by inflicting incalculable reputational harm and excessive costs to defend themselves.’

“The Democrats are giving Carr until April 14th to respond to a series of questions about the FCC’s wave of investigations.”

https://www.theverge.com/news/641084/t

Media Stop China War-Plans Briefing

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Article on Democracy Now by Staff, 3/24/25

Headline:  “Pentagon Hosts Elon Musk But Skips Briefing on China After Media Reports”

“Elon Musk visited the Pentagon Friday for a high-level meeting with Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and others. The New York Times had reported Musk was scheduled to receive a briefing on top-secret U.S. plans for a potential war with China, but the briefing was canceled after it was reported in the press. Musk threatened to go after whoever leaked what he called “maliciously false information” to the Times. Musk has close business ties with China, which is Tesla’s second-largest market. China is also the home of Tesla’s largest factory.”

https://www.democracynow.org/2025/3/24/headlines/pentagon_hosts_elon_musk_but_skips_briefing_on_china_after_media_reports

Finger on Scale of AP’s Hearing?

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Article in Reporters Without Borders by Staff, 3/19/25

Headline:  “USA: RSF condemns Elon Musk’s continued defamation of the AP ahead of its hearing on White House access”

“Elon Musk, head of the US Department of Government Efficiency, tweeted on March 18 ‘AP stands for Associated Propaganda’ in response to a screenshot of an Associated Press (AP) retraction of one of their stories, just two days before the AP’s hearing over its access to the White House. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) strongly objects to Musk’s inappropriate use of his position of power within the executive branch to influence judicial proceedings, under the pretext of using his personal account.

“Without a hint of irony, Elon Musk condemned the AP for doing what any responsible journalist or news organization should do – publish a correction when they get something wrong. Meanwhile, Musk is one of the Internet’s most prolific purveyors of misinformation and never holds himself accountable. . .”

https://rsf.org/en/usa-rsf-condemns-elon-musk-s-continued-defamation-ap-ahead-its-hearing-white-house-access